


Criladien

by DoctorMerlinReid



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Golden Age, Kidnapping, Prince Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-09 00:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4327722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorMerlinReid/pseuds/DoctorMerlinReid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>King Arthur of Camelot has lifted the ban on magic alongside his Queen, Gweneviere. They have named Morgana Court Sorceress and have decided to unite Albion. Every kingdom has made a treaty with them other than Criladien. The mysterious king has finally agreed to a meeting, but with strange rules in place. Noble!Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Hi! I've recently started to read Noble!Merlin fics and I have fallen in love with them. Thusly, I have attempted to create my own. Please let me know if you like it or not. Enjoy!
> 
> PS: This story is very AU.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot lounged in his throne until his wife, Queen Gweneviere Pendragon, scowled at him and motioned for the young king to sit up straight. Arthur frowned, but nonetheless sat taller. He could hear Elyan, the Queen's sister, and Gwaine, the drunkard, snickering at him, but he ignored it.

After a few more moments of the quiet buzz of conversation, the messenger arrived. Well, he had actually arrived the night before, but he hadn't gotten an invitation with the king until midday today. Arthur smiled at him. His manservant, George, always said that people feel safer around a king that smiles at them.

This messenger looked to be around twenty five years old and had tan skin and blonde hair pulled into a short ponytail. He was wearing the royal colors of his kingdom: blue and silver. He had on dark blue breeches with silver socks and blue shoes. He was wearing a royal blue shirt with the kingdom's sign, a pentagon with a strong dragon featured in the center, embroidered on it in silver thread.

Although he stood strong, Arthur could see the slight shaking of the man's hands. The king decided that he was going to start the conversation to put him at ease, "You've come far from the kingdom of Criladien. Has the king decided to accept my offer?"

Recently, Arthur had sent out some messengers of his own to many of the kingdoms. This decision was spurred from his decision to eradicate the ban on magic. All of the kingdoms had agreed to talk about peace treaties except for the mysterious Criladien. No one knew a lot about their king or anything about it for that matter.

The messenger nodded and went to one knee, presenting a scroll, which Arthur just noticed he was holding, to the king like a servant would give a knight his sword. Arthur nodded to George who went down to the man, grabbed the scroll, and then presented it to his king in the same manner. Arthur nodded his thanks before grasping the message.

He was about to dismiss the court and call a meeting of the round table, but the messenger spoke first, "My King wishes for me to tell you that the instructions on that sheet must be followed exactly. If anything that is not instructed occurs, all chances of a treaty will be terminated. Good day." He bowed stiffly and began to walk out of the hall.

For a moment, the king and queen just stared at him, flabbergasted. No one just walked out like that. Then Gwen asked, "Sir? May I ask your name?"

He turned back towards her, his green eyes flashing, "My King has instructed me to not give my name, my Lady." Then he continued to walk out, the doors closing behind him.

Arthur shook his head slightly and said, "Court is dismissed. There will be a meeting of the round table now."

He waited while the nobles filed out of the room and the servants pulled a table into the center of the room. It wasn't a very large table, only big enough to fit himself, his queen, his physician, the recently made Court Sorceress Morgana, and his most trusted knights. George was made to leave the room.

Once they were all there, Arthur pulled open the scroll and began to read:

Dear King Arthur Pendragon and Queen Gweneviere Pendragon,

I have received your message speaking of the lifting of magic bans in your kingdom. My kingdom has never had such bans and magic is practiced openly and often. I accept your wish to create a treaty between our kingdoms, but if you truly wish for this to happen, you must trust me. I have very specific instructions for you. Follow them to the letter, or this idea of a united Albion will fail. 

First, I will decide who you bring with you. It will not be much different from the people you normally bring with you. Here are the names: King Arthur, Queen Gweneviere, Sir Gwaine, Sir Percival, Sir Lancelot, Sir Mordred, Sir Leon, Sir Elyan, and Lady Morgana. You may bring neither servants with you nor any additional knights. 

Second, you will be led to me by the messenger who came to you. Do not push him for information. Do not try to learn things about Criladien from him. He will not tell you if you ask him. If he decides it is worth sharing, only then may you hear it. He will determine the path you travel and you will not err from it.

Third, understand that I will not accept you having any weapons in my court room. When you make it to the castle, your weapons will be taken from you and placed in your room. There are no exceptions. There is a spell on the court room walls that stops most people within it from using magic. The only person in the court room who will have available weapons, magical or otherwise, will be myself. 

These are your conditions. Accept them and you may start your trek to my castle as soon as you wish, or disregard them and my messenger will come home without you.

Sincerely,

The King

Arthur and his knights looked at each other. For one, they were amazed at the amount of knowledge this king had of their kingdom. If they accepted his conditions, they would be flying blind while he had all the cards.

For another, what was with the no servants rule? No one had asked that before. It was strange and Arthur wasn't quite sure what that said for the king.

Gaius, the court physician, spoke first, "If I may sire, I believe that you should do as he says. I believe that Criladien would be a powerful ally and a dangerous enemy. I do not think that he will retaliate if you say no, but it could cause tension that could lead to hostility."

"And," Gwen added, "Like the King said, if you do not do this, Albion will never come to be."

"It's just," Arthur began, "I don't like that he knows so much about us and we know nothing about him. We don't even know his name. When the knights visited his land, he had someone else speak for him and he blindfolded the knights at the border. None of the other kingdoms knew of our dream of Albion. How could he?"

The knights nodded in agreement. Lancelot said, "It says that his land allows magic and he hinted rather strongly that he has magic. Perhaps that is how."

Leon cocked his head at Lancelot, "You think he has spied on us?"

Percival stepped in, "I think spying is too strong of a word. Maybe he was just trying to make certain we had honorable intentions. I mean, Uther had pretty strong laws against magic. He had no reason to believe that you would be any different."

Morgana frowned, "Was Arthur lifting the ban on magic not enough?"

Gwaine, rarely the voice of reason, said, "He lives in a different kingdom that is very cut off from the rest of the world. How was he supposed to know that you actually lifted the ban."

Arthur nodded and said, "True. So I say we take a vote. It will have to be unanimous, or we don't go at all. Say aye if you think we should go." Everyone said aye so Arthur finished with, "Very well, we will go. We depart in the morning. I will have the regent rule in my stead. Start packing."

The knights, Morgana, and Gaius all left with varying degrees of a bow. Some just nodded their heads and some gave full bows. Others, like Gwaine and Morgana, just walked out the door.

Servants scurried back into the room to take away the table and Arthur pulled George aside, letting him know that they were leaving in the morning and that he would not be coming. He then gave George two messages: one to give to the regent telling him to take over court until Arthur returned, and another to give to the Criladien messenger telling him that they left in the morning.

Arthur and Gwen then returned to their chambers and slept the night away.

When they woke, George had laid out their clothes and had already saddled their horses. The extra pack horses were equipped for a long ride (they weren't told how long they were going to be riding). The messenger had already mounted his horse and was waiting rather impatiently for them. The very moment they had mounted their horses, he had taken off through the city.

They followed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is the second installment. Again, please let me know what you think. If you think I can do anything better, tell me and I will do my best. Enjoy!

Three days passed and the Camelotians had yet to hear a word from the messenger other than instructions on doing things. He never ate anything that they cooked and he always rode in the back of the group, telling them when to turn and which way. He never said his name and they never asked because of the instructions. When offered to join in their conversation, he just stared at them with one eyebrow raised.

Elyan had expressed concern that every citizen of Criladien would be like this, but Arthur brushed it off, hoping against hope that they wouldn't.

At midday on the third day, the messenger said, "We will arrive at the castle soon. I recommend that you remove your weapons now. The King will want to see you immediately." They nodded to him and complied. Most of their weapons were already on their horses anyways.

After another half hour, the castle came into view.

It was marvelous. It rose into the sky in graceful arches and curves. It was made entirely of shiny black obsidian. The spires of the castle had large, flat tops and the sides were decorated with the royal blue and magical silver colors of the kingdom.

As they rode closer to the castle, the guests could see that it had runes and signs etched into every block of obsidian. The castle alone must have taken years to build. The city sat below it, each house was clean and orderly. They could see no signs of poverty or starvation. Everyone looked happy and healthy. It was truly an amazing sight.

The messenger caught them staring openmouthed at the city and commented, "It truly is amazing isn't it? This is what you can achieve with magic set free." Arthur nodded his agreement, amazed that the man had talked at all.

They entered the courtyard and were again amazed by what they saw. It was formidable enough being surrounded by tall black walls, but then they realized that they were walking on solid silver pathways. On either side of the pathway were flower beds with different types of flower per statue. And there were many statues. In the huge courtyard, Arthur counted at least thirty.

The messenger spoke again, "Each statue represents a god, goddess, or deity that our people worship. If you believe in a god, there is a statue here, in the Courtyard of the Gods. The different flowers are the sacred flowers of that deity. Our King believes in everyone having a place in his kingdom."

Arthur was humbled. He could hear the respect and love every time the messenger mentioned his king. He was also humbled by this king's display of love for his people. To make a statue and plant a garden for every religion's deities was such a daunting task and this king made it seem so easy. Like it was the natural thing to do for one's kingdom.

They continued to weave on the path through the statues until they reached an open area. There were stable hands waiting there to take the horses, but there weren't any guards. Arthur found that strange and evidently so did Gwaine, who said, "There aren't any knights! No one is guarding the entrance!"

The messenger snorted and they looked at him sharply. He simply shrugged and got off his horse. The others followed suit and soon he was leading them to the door.

He pulled it open into pure darkness. The moment he stepped inside, however, a beautiful bluish white light formed at equal spots along the wall. After the messenger had gotten a certain distance from them, they faded into darkness again.

The messenger followed many twists and curves until he came to another set of doors. He turned to look at the Camelotians and asked, "Are you ready? The King is waiting."

Arthur frowned, "Are we going to see him and hear his voice? He did not allow that last time."

The messenger nodded, "Last time, you were an enemy." With that, he pulled the doors opened and stepped inside, motioning that they should do the same.

Arthur took a deep breath, grabbed his wife's hand, and walked in, step long, back straight, gaze high.

Arthur was surprised. There was barely anyone in the room. A few people, who looked to be knights, but bore no weapons, lounged against the wall slightly behind and to the side of their King's throne. The throne itself was impressive. It was also carved from obsidian, and it held delicate designs that mostly consisted of dragons and runes.

The only other people, not including Arthur and his people, in the room were the King and the messenger.

Arthur was extremely surprised when the King stood from his throne and nodded his head in deference to Arthur. For a moment, Arthur only stood there, shocked, but then he remembered his manners and he nodded his head back. The King's knights moved from against the wall to bow low to Arthur. Arthur's knights repeated the gesture to the King.

King Arthur studied the leader of Criladien. He was tall and thin, but he still looked powerful. He had short, raven black hair, and deep blue eyes. His cheekbones, like his ears, protruded from his skull. He was wearing tight black pants with deeper black boots. He had on a blue shirt with no sleeves and a silver neckerchief. A black jacket was draped over the arm of his throne and you could see a silver belt from which his sword hung. His thin arms were thick with muscles and his hands were rough from working.

Overall, he didn't really look like king. Arthur waited for the King to speak. It was considered polite to let the king of the land you were in speak first.

Then the King did something unexpected, he grinned at them. And not just any grin, a huge grin that was plastered all across his face and lit up the room. He started to talk, "King Arthur, what a pleasure it is to meet you! You know, I've heard an awful lot about you and sound like quite a nice person. I personally welcome you to the kingdom of Criladien!" He ended with a hand flourish and a bow.

Arthur was struck dumb. Never before in all of his twenty years of life had someone ever acted like that in court. He briefly registered the King's knights snickering slightly. His cheeks grew red with embarrassment, but the King just turned around and raised an eyebrow at them. They smothered their laughs and their grins, but Arthur saw the King smile at them.

Arthur looked up and said, "It is a pleasure to be here. Not many have been given this honor and I am grateful that you have chosen me to get it. May I introduce to you my wife Gweneviere?" Gwen curtsied smiled at him.

The King grinned again, "My Lady, the pleasure is all mine. Though, I must say, formal talk is boring and it would be a lot easier if we just talked normal, don't you think? Oh, and by the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Merlin."

Arthur fished for words for a second, still completely unsure of how to act around this strange king, but he finally settled on saying, "Well, nice to meet you Merlin. I'm sure you know my knights."

Merlin nodded enthusiastically, "Yep. It's nice to meet you. So, I was hoping we could start the peace treaty talk tomorrow at noon. Would that work for you? It would also be great if you and your knights, queen, and witch could join me and my knights for dinner tonight."

Arthur was starting to doubt the intelligence of Criladien's ruler, but then he looked into Merlin's eyes and he saw wisdom fit for men five times his age. He saw the way that Merlin stood casually but was still in a perfect position to fight. He saw the way Merlin's eyes searched theirs, learning about them just by looking at them.

Arthur nodded, "That will work fine and we would be pleased to join you for dinner."

"Great," Merlin started, "The knights will show you to your rooms. When it's dinner time, someone will come and get you. If you want to go somewhere else, just ask someone and they'll bring you there. See you at dinner!" He smiled brightly, waved, and then walked out of the room. Two of the knights came with him when he looked at them.

The messenger, who had disappeared at some point during their conversation and just reappeared now, was wearing the same outfit as the other knights and he talked to them quietly. Arthur found it interesting that they were given a knight as a lead instead of an actual messenger.

The messenger turned knight walked up to them and said, "Come on. We'll show you who goes where. All of us, we'll be hanging around the hallway your rooms are on so if you need to go somewhere, let us know."

Gwaine raised his hand like a schoolchild and the messenger laughed and pointed to him. Gwaine asked, "Are we allowed to ask questions now?" The messenger laughed again and nodded. His knight buddies laughed with him.

Gwaine then asked, "Okay, so what's your name? And what are the other knights' names?"

The messenger introduced himself as James.

A man as large as Percival with short brown hair and eyes as green as James' called himself Stone. Another man, who was short and burly with silver hair and blue eyes (the epitome of showing spirit for one's kingdom) called himself Taylor. The last man, who had soft brown eyes, black hair, and olive skin said he was named Joseph. They said that the two knights that had gone off with the King were named Sebastian and Warrior.

Gwaine nodded his understanding. Stone asked quietly, "And what are your names?"

Each person introduced him- or her- self and by then, they had reached what was to be their rooms. Arthur frowned. This was the same direction they had gone before to get from the courtyard to the throne room. Actually, it was the same exact path. He was certain of it; he had memorized it on the way in case they needed to make a quick getaway.

Arthur spoke sharply, "This was the same path we took to get to the throne room. I'm sure of it. Why aren't we in the courtyard?"

Taylor laughed, "That's one of the many beauties of this castle, my friend. The path changes every time you step into a room. Very rarely does the same path lead you to the same room. That's why you need someone to help you around. It takes a lot of getting used to. You practically have to grow up in the palace to work in it. That's one of the reasons there are so little people working here."

Lancelot looked shocked, "How do you know where to go if it changes every time?"

This time, Joseph answered, "The castle tells you where to go. The lights turn on in the right hallways. That is, if it likes you. If the castle doesn't like you, you most likely don't have the best intentions toward our King. That doesn't mean the castle doesn't like you that just means she doesn't know you well enough yet. She'll warm up to you eventually."

Morgana, her voice commanding, asked, "How does that work? Is it magic? I've never heard of a spell that can do that or of anyone powerful enough to put the spell over the entire castle."

Joseph just smiled at her, "I'm not going to give away all of our secrets at one time, beautiful. Just wait and if the King thinks you can hear all of our secrets, we'll let you know all of our secrets. These are your rooms. Your names are on the door of your room. Again, just ask if you need anything." With that, Criladien's knights wandered off.

Arthur told his people, "Get settled into your rooms and when you're finished, come into mine. There we will talk. Now go."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey, I'm trying to get as many chapters out as soon as I can, but I probably won't update for at least another week. So, please review, and I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> PS: Thank you for everyone who has already reviewed!

It was a half an hour before everyone had gathered in Arthur's chambers. Whoever had delegated the chambers to each of the Camelotians had been kind enough to give Gwen and Arthur interconnected chambers.

Arthur sat everyone down at a table in his rooms. Oddly enough, it was a circular table almost identical to the Round Table. There were just enough seats to sit everyone with one seat left over where Gaius would usually sit.

Once everyone had found their places, Arthur asked, "Thus far, what is your opinion of King Merlin?"

Gwaine grinned and stuck his feet onto the table, "I think he's awesome and the kind of guy who would be hilarious when drunk."

Lance frowned at him while Percival pushed his legs off the table, "You can obviously tell that his people love him immensely and his knights are beyond loyal to him."

Gwen threw in her opinion, "He seemed kind of goofy at first, but then I looked past it and he was looking not at us, but into us. He became almost scary when I realized that. Though, it is hard to see him and think of the person who wrote the letter."

Morgana nodded, "Merlin did seem very young and childish and yet he seemed ancient at the same time. The king is a walking contradiction."

Leon got to the point, "I think that he will be fairly easy to make a treaty with, except if he has something he is adamant about, I believe that he will be very adamant about it. He seems as if he will be a very stubborn man."

Mordred said, "I think he's nice, but this 'air of mystery' thing he has is starting to get on my nerves. The lights, the winding pathways, the small amount of people, the lack of guards. It's ridiculous! How many mysteries can one man hold?"

Percival commented, "I don't think he is just trying to be mysterious; I think he is protecting himself in case we don't end up making the treaty. If we end up as still an enemy, he won't want us to know all of his secrets. I am personally amazed by his city. It's so clean and wonderful." That was the most they had heard Percival say at one time and they were a little awed. He grinned sheepishly at them.

Arthur nodded at Gwen's brother, "And you Sir Elyan, what did you think about this King?"

Elyan said, "He almost doesn't seem like a king. You could actually mistake him for a servant with the way he looks and the way he acts. He didn't even wear a crown. The only thing that would mark him out as a king on the streets would be his sword. Other than that, nothing."

Arthur nodded sagely, "I agree with all that has been said so far. The question is, how do we proceed? How do we get the king of Criladien to open up to us?"

They sat at their table and planned and plotted until the servants came to lead them to dine with the king.

It took the servants longer to navigate the halls of the castle. Eventually, they reached their destination. The maids bowed to them, opened the doors, and left.

Everyone in the room had quieted when the doors were opened. Once again, the knights were lounging around the room, most of them leaning against walls. The difference was, this time King Merlin was doing the same thing. The watched as the young man padded over to where they stood.

His face split into his characteristic grin and he said, "Alright, sit wherever you want to! There are plenty of seats and no head of the table, so sit and then we'll sit and then we'll eat! I, personally, am famished. And, we're having roast chicken tonight, which is really quite good. I hope you like it."

He was going to continue when a knight with pale blonde hair a little longer than his and ice blue eyes grabbed his shoulder and said, "If you don't stop now, they won't make it to the peace treaty talks. They'll have died of boredom."

Merlin actually pouted at him, but the older man just smiled and stuck his hand out saying, "I'm Sebastian. It's a pleasure to meet you all. As the King said, please sit."

As the guests sat, they heard the King mutter about him not being able to talk even though Sebastian talked more than he did. Gwen stifled her giggles into Arthur's arm, but Merlin caught her doing it anyways. He just grinned at her.

They ended up sitting, in clockwise rotation, in this order: Arthur, Gwen, Elyan, Percival, Leon, Morgana, James, Taylor, Stone, Joseph, Sebastian, an empty seat, Merlin, Gwaine, Mordred, and then Lancelot.

Arthur frowned, "How is it that both tables I've sat at so far are exactly as many seats as are needed for the present company plus one extra seat?"

Merlin frowned at him in confusion but then remembered, "Oh! Well, word of the famous 'Round Table' has reached far and wide, so I aimed to replicate the round table seat for seat in your rooms, but as I did not ask for your court physician to come, there was one extra. This time, it is the perfect amount for all the guests; it's just that Warrior isn't here yet."

"Ah," was all Arthur said. Soon thereafter, serving girls brought in a plate of roast chicken, peas, carrots, cheese, and some bread for each person. They filled their drinks with wine. All except Merlin's and the missing Warrior's, Arthur noted.

As if his thoughts were a signal, the door opened. The person who came through was not at all what they expected.

For one, it was a girl. For another, she looked very strange. It appeared as if she were only fifteen. She had jet black hair tied back into a braid. Arthur then noticed that her hair wasn't entirely black: she had a streak of purple and a streak of silver in it. She had one purple eye and one silver eye. Her skin was snow white and her lips were dark. Her nails were purple with silver flowers running across them. She went barefoot and carried a huge broadsword at her side. She was wearing a sleeveless tunic that showed her tattoos. Up the top of her arms and wrapped around her wrists were tattoos making a pattern, but, at closer inspection, Arthur realized that the tattoos were made up of smaller tattoos of animals.

The people of Camelot stared at her openmouthed. The Criladien knights looked up briefly, but went back to their food. Merlin hadn't even looked up.

The strange girl sat in the empty seat next to Merlin and arranged her utensils, cup, and plate a certain way. Merlin talked around a mouthful of food, "Why, look who decided to show up. I'm so glad you could make it Warrior."

Warrior scowled at him and said, "Next time have someone else train the horses then. They aren't trained so obviously it wasn't easy to get them back into their stalls." After a second, she added absentmindedly, "Don't talk with your mouth full."

This time Merlin scowled at her, "Don't tell me what to do. I'm the king and you can't do that." He nodded at her, a smile creeping across his face.

"Evidently you're a rude king as you have yet to introduce me to your guests and your guests to me." Warrior retaliated, promptly eating a piece of chicken.

Merlin went back to a scowl and pushed his shoulder into hers. She didn't even budge, but instead gave a small smile. Merlin sighed and introduced her to his guests. By then, Arthur and his people had gotten themselves under control and weren't staring too obviously at the girl knight.

"So," Merlin asked, "What do you think of your rooms so far?"

Gwen gushed at him, "Oh I think they are absolutely spectacular. I especially love that they have Camelot colors in them. That was so very thoughtful of you. You are such a kind person, do you know that?"

Merlin's cheeks reddened and he looked down, "Well, it was the knights who decorated them, so really, you have them to thank."

Gwen's smile spread and she thanked the knights and then thanked Merlin, who just smiled and looked down.

Arthur took that opportunity to ask about the castle, "How is it that your castle has a mind of its own, Merlin?"

The King looked at Arthur and grinned, "That's a secret. She doesn't like people she doesn't know to learn all her secrets. I can, however, tell you that her name is Eryas. This is the Eryas Palace. She tends to like people who use her actual name better than people who just call her the castle."

Arthur nodded sagely and pretended that a castle with a name, a gender, and personal preferences was an everyday occurrence. Some of the other knights smiled in understanding at the Camelotians who were all struggling to accept this kingdom's strange ways.

"So," Leon broke the silence, "Do you have a court? They obviously weren't there today, but do you even have one?"

Merlin shook his head, adding, "I really don't find any need for a court. The only time we have anything similar is when someone is murdered and the head man or woman from each town comes and forms a committee to judge the person responsible. Luckily, that doesn't happen very often. Well, we also get the head man or woman from every town to meet together once a year to discuss the state of the kingdom. Other than that, no I do not hold court."

"Besides," James grinned at them, "I doubt Eryas would let some of them get to the courtroom anyways. There're three of them that Eryas just hates for some reason. They're nice people and are completely loyal to the crown, but Eryas does not like them."

Taylor sniggered, "Remember that time when they had to go to the bathroom and it was three hours until we found them?"

"Oh mate, I've got to here that story!" Gwaine sat forward eagerly.

Taylor laughed again and happily obliged. Then the two parties started to share stories of nobles in the court and when things went wrong.

Arthur noticed that Warrior and Sebastian were both very quiet and only joined the conversation to agree or disagree to something. He was confused about that based on how open they were with Merlin.

Then the doors of the dining room swung open and the occupants of the room turned to face the sound.

A frazzled looking servant ushered a seven year old girl into the room. Arthur watched as Merlin's face creased and he leapt out of his seat to hug the girl to him.

All of the Camelotians were amazed to see this goofy, strange King pick the girl up and hold her the way a mother would hold her child. He leaned his forehead against hers and said, "Martha, what's wrong? Is Thomas okay?"

The child shook her head, her braids almost whacking Merlin in the face. Arthur noted that the girl, Martha, had tears tracking down her face. He half got out of his seat to go help her.

Merlin asked seriously, "Martha, what happened to Thomas?"

Martha started to cry harder, her voice high-pitched and shaking, "We were playing in the forest, and he climbed a tree, but he fell off, and then his arm was the wrong direction and there was blood and he wouldn't wake up, and I didn't know what to do, and I don't know what to do, and I couldn't find the physician and I still don't know what to do!" She said it all in the same breath.

Without Merlin having to say anything, Warrior stood and pushed her chair in one smooth move, "I'll get some horses and your kit." Merlin nodded to her and she walked out.

Merlin asked Martha "Is someone with Thomas right now? Is Lucy with him?" When she nodded, he continued, "Did you check for a pulse?" Martha nodded again and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

They saw Merlin push her arm down and say, "Don't put your thumb in your mouth," distractedly before asking, "Can you lead me and Warrior to him?" She nodded again and then they were out of the room and the doors swung shut behind them.

Arthur sat back down in his chair and looked over to see Sebastian staring intently at him. He started to feel self conscious, so he asked, "What?"

Sebastian smiled, "Nothing, it's just that not many people, king or otherwise, would have gotten out of their seats to help her when she already had someone else taking care of her. It says a lot about you." Arthur tore his gaze from Sebastian's when he heard talking

Morgana was asking James something, "Why would Merlin help her? Well, I mean, he's her King, but how would he help her?"

Lancelot threw his own question in as well, "Does he have magic?"

Morgana raised her eyebrows at Lancelot, "I would know if he had magic. There wasn't any feeling of magic anywhere around him."

James slid into the conversation, "To answer your first question Lady Morgana, the King has been apprenticed to the court physician his whole life. He learns everything he can if he thinks that it will help his people. Turns out it's helpful. Things like this happen more often than you think. The court physician will be helping someone, for example, he's helping someone with a particularly difficult birth today, so the people will come to the King and he will be able to help them, like now.

"To answer your question Lancelot, you will have to ask him that. I do not mean any offense to you my Lady, but I doubt you would be able to tell if someone had magic in Eryas. Like, when we were all in here, when the King was talking to Martha, did you feel magic bearers?" James finished.

Morgana shook her head no and James continued with a small smile, "Martha has magic. Mind you, it's not enough, but it's enough that, if you were outside of Eryas, you would have felt it. Her brother has magic as well, but her best friend, Lucy, doesn't. Eryas doesn't like when people have an advantage over her family."

Arthur looked at him, "Her family?"

Joseph answered for James, "That's what we call the people who live in her all the time. We're the people who she really likes and will allow living in her constantly and without escort. Those people are the King, us knights, and a couple servants. Eryas is very particular."

Taylor snorted and started a conversation about the horrors of training servants to work in the castle. They told stories of hopelessly lost people or of Eryas making trips five times longer than they should be. They even said that there were times when Eryas tripped people in the hallways.

After about an hour, Merlin and Warrior returned. Warrior gave Merlin an undecipherable look and then took her plate, cup, and utensils and walked out of the room. The other knights looked at her with concern.

Merlin plopped down into his chair, nodding when asked if Warrior was alright, and asked, "So, what'd I miss?"

Taylor said, "We were telling them horror stories of training servants."

Merlin rolled his eyes and said, "Remember that one time when that servant was firmly convinced that Eryas was haunted and we kept trying to convince him that it was just Eryas being mischievous. I was starting to understand why Eryas didn't like him."

They spent the next few hours eating dessert and talking about their homes and lives. Tomorrow, the talks would begin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So yeah, maybe it won't be a week until I next update. I just can't help it, I've fallen in love with Eryas! Anywho, you don't want to hear me rant about a magical castle with feelings, so onwards! Oh, and I know that some people were excited to start the peace talks, but I felt like Arthur and his knights needed some more information on the kingdom before they tried to do peace talks with the welfare of the kingdom in mind (I mean, seriously, they know NOTHING about this kingdom, they didn't even know the king's name). Alright, second rant over. Onwards again.
> 
> By the by, I did use some godly (or goddessly, I guess) names from the Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce in this chapter, so I don't own that either. Oh, and by the by, I know that the language of the characters is WAY off for that time period, but this is my kingdom and screw social conventions. Bam.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but the kingdom of Criladien (excluding its king, which I kind of feel bad about. It sounds awful when you say it that way).

The knights, led by Sebastian, gave the Camelotians the first part of a tour before they started the peace talks at midday. It had been agreed that the knights of each kingdom would be there to input their opinions and to also act as mediators. For the moment, the King was working with the court physician, who they had yet to meet, on making enough cures to give to a village north of the city that had the flu going around.

Sebastian led the group out of the castle through the Courtyard of the Gods, pointing some of the more prominent figures as he went, "This god here is Trader Koma and next to him is his wife, Bookkeeper Oti. They are the main god and goddess of the Trader religion and are said to judge you when you die by what Oti logs into your book. Your good must be equal to or greater than your bad." The statues were of normal looking people made of a soft looking brass wearing long robes. Koma held a balance and was looking over his wife's shoulder as she wrote in a book. Their flowers were white.

Sebastian swung his hand in the direction of another set of deities. One was a man made of limestone who leaned against a huge oak tree and another was a woman made of the same material that was kneeling on the ground and looked almost as if she was tending the pink flowers before her. Sebastian introduced them as, "The Green Man and Mila of the Grain. They are there for farmers or people who practice some form of earth magic."

There were many others, such as Heibei, the goddess of luck, Shurri and Hakkoi, both smith and fire deities, Vrohain, a goddess of judgment and wisdom, and Sythunan and Lakik, gods of trickery.

They made it out of the Courtyard of the Gods and were almost surprised to see the bright sunlight that had difficult filtering into the courtyard due to the tall walls. They were also thrown off by the pristine and white colors of the city. When they looked at the city this time, it was brimming almost to overflowing with life. Colorful banners were strung up, the market was in full swing, people ran by each other and laughter rang off the buildings.

Leon shook his head in wonder, "Is there nothing you people do wrong?"

Stone smiled at him, "Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes things happen that can't be helped. Things like Thomas breaking his arms yesterday, or the flu hitting a village today. This is the best the King can do and it is enough for his people. Although, some say that's why Eryas was built to be black and dark. The city and the castle are complete opposites to show that people are neither good nor bad, but a combination of the two, just as any kingdom is." Stone didn't talk a lot, but when he did, it was meaningful.

Arthur nodded, "That's an interesting way of thinking about it. I was kind of wondering what your king had against light, but I kind of get it now. How can you all stand to live in the dark all the time? I mean, I know you have Eryas' lights to guide you, but still, it's pretty dark."

Most of the knights just quirked a corner of their mouths up as if they were asked that a lot. Arthur swallowed a sigh. Mordred was right; this constant mystery thing was starting to get a bit annoying. They started to descend into the city.

When they reached the first houses, men and women alike all flocked to them. The women and young girls flirted boldly with the Criladien and Camelot knights and the men asked them questions about knighthood. It appeared as if there hadn't been any new knights in a long time.

Arthur asked James as they reached a break in the flood of people, "So, who is in your army? I've seen no guards and there aren't that many knights."

James' face darkened and Sebastian, who had overheard the conversation, answered before James could get more upset, "Every man, woman, and child is taught to fight from a young age. Magic users, or those who consort with them aren't welcome in many places, so if they know how to fight, they are in less danger. If the kingdom was to be threatened, we have an entire population of warriors to fight with."

Warrior's head perked up and she swaggered over, "Did I hear my name?"

James punched her in the shoulder lightly and said, "I'm pretty sure no one said stupid any time recently."

She stared drolly at him before shaking her head, turning to walk away, but then doubling back and tackling the man. He went down with a whoosh of air. The fight was over before it even started. Gwaine walked over just in time to see Warrior straddling James while his face was pressed into the pavement and she held his hands behind his back.

Gwaine whistled appreciatively, "So you're that kind of girl! Wouldn't of guessed."

Warrior gave him a small grin (by small, Arthur meant that it was about one one thousandth of Merlin's) and helped James stand.

James looked sideways at Gwaine and said, "Yep, I approve."

Warrior lifted her head quickly in surprise and she punched James in the arm. While he muttered ow, she called him a jerk. Poor Gwaine was looking between the two while Sebastian and Arthur just stared at them with eyebrows raised.

Taylor came up to stand just behind Gwaine, Lancelot close behind, "And that is how knights of Criladien are not supposed to behave." Warrior just scowled at him and brushed past the whole group. Sebastian lightly smacked James in the back of the head.

James spluttered indignantly, "What did I do? First I get actually tackled, then I get hit 'lightly' in the arm by Warrior which is really like getting hit by a runaway horse, and then you hit me in the back of the head! What did I do to deserve all of that?" By this time, the majority of the rest of the group had come over and the Criladien and Camelotian knights all laughed.

Arthur found this side of the people of Criladien interesting. They seemed so open and so… unlike knights that it was almost surreal. This whole kingdom didn't seem real. It was too clean, the people were too nice, the land too beautiful, too bright. But then there were the parts that seemed very real. Thomas' broken arm. Merlin having to leave with his most trusted knights to talk of matters of state. Eryas not letting people she didn't know go where they wanted.

The King of Camelot shook his head and searched out his wife. She and Morgana were on a street called the Street of Thread. The entire street was filled with clothes shops. There were seamstresses, tailors, clothing boutiques, laundry shops, fabric stores, and even a small seamstress school.

When Mordred, who had followed Arthur and Joseph down the street, asked about the school, Joseph answered, "Every person, girl or boy, rich or poor, in the city or in the outlying regions, gets the same education. They spend a day at each of the schools each week, with the weekends free. That is, until they have eight years of education. That's when they pick one of the five schools to stay and learn their chosen profession."

Mordred, picking his words carefully, asked, "Is there a school for magic even though not everyone has magic?"

Joseph shook his head, "No, magic is what your parents or your friend's parents or whoever teaches you. They do that mainly on the weekends, or after the school day. For example, Martha and her brother Thomas have magic, but like we said yesterday, Lucy doesn't. The thing is, Martha's parents don't have magic but Lucy's parents do. Lucy's parents teach Thomas and Martha. There is no profession that immediately dictates the need for magic. For example, we don't have a Court Sorcerer."

Lancelot, who had come out of nowhere, asked, "Is that because your king is a sorcerer?"

Joseph, who had a very bemused look on his face, was about to answer when Taylor and Gwaine walked by. Taylor had his short arm slung on Gwaine's shoulder and Gwaine was stooped down to accommodate his new shorter friend. They were both laughing.

"I'm going to bring my new friend Gwaine here down to the Street of Ale. We're sure to have some fun there!" Taylor interrupted.

Sebastian, who also appeared to have come from nowhere, dragged Elyan, Percival, Stone, and James with him. He spoke up before the two drunkards could walk off, "Oh no you don't. The both of you still have to attend the peace talks this afternoon. The King will want you to not be drunk and I imagine that your king has somewhat of the same principals." Sebastian turned his glare on Gwaine.

Gwaine ducked his head and looked to the side, his face splitting into a grin when he saw someone, "Hey Warrior! How are you my friend? What say you tonight you and Taylor give me a tour of the Street of Ale, along with some of my fine knightly friends?"

Warrior raised a single, thin eyebrow at him, looking pointedly at the arm Gwaine had slung around her shoulder. When he ignored the obvious hints, she just sighed and murmured, "Whatever."

Taylor came and clapped Gwaine on the shoulder before falling to his knees before him, "Praise thee fort deciding in all of thy holy power to bestoweth upon myself the gift of getting Warrior to cometh unto a bar!"

Percival helped Taylor up while Gwaine stared at Warrior and the other Criladien knights smirked at her. Warrior put on her death glare and made sure everyone succumbed to it before stalking off again back in the direction from which she came.

"She likes to dramatically stomp away, doesn't she?" Gwaine asked dryly.

James nodded sagely to Gwaine and the two men broke out laughing. Sebastian shook his head, saying, "The King would be so amused."

Arthur raised his head, "I have a question about that." He waited for Sebastian to roll his hand in a go on gesture before continuing, "Why is it that you all call the king Merlin to his face, but the King when you aren't around him. In my experience, it's normally the other way around."

Sebastian answered, "We try to call him King or your Majesty or some title or another, but he won't accept them. He believes that he is just helping people and since we are his friends, we needn't be so formal with him."

Gwen, who had walked up with Morgana a few moments earlier, remarked, "You always say 'the King' with such respect and love."

Morgana finished for her, "It really is quite beautiful to hear."

Joseph flashed his teeth at her in a grin, "Not anywhere near as beautiful as you, darling." Morgana blushed furiously and glared at the knight for making her so embarrassed. He continued on, oblivious, "If you get to know him a bit better, you'd understand why we say it with such reverence. He really is an amazing man. He made this whole dream a reality." He swung his arm around to take in the whole of the city.

"What do you mean?" Lancelot questioned curiously.

James picked it up, "As little as ten years back, the kingdom was a nightmare. This was a place for people with magic and general fugitives from the law. We had a lot of thieves, murderers, and con artists spread across the land mixed with sorcerers who were very bitter. The result was a mixing pot of anger and the ability to do something about it.

"It got to the point where every single night someone was killed. People wouldn't go out at night unless they intended to cause pain. The king didn't care and refused to change anything. The city was a cesspit of disease and garbage. Then the king died ten years ago and King Merlin claimed his throne. Within that same year we got the true Criladien. That man was born to rule and to be an amazing king. Hopefully, with your help, he will become an even better one."

James finished and Arthur wasn't sure what to say. That was an immense compliment if James thought that he could make this kingdom better than it was. He thanked James, but Lancelot had caught something none of the others had, "Wait, wouldn't that mean that Merlin would have become the king when he was nine or ten or something around there. He can't be more than twenty now."

He was right. Merlin did look very young and if he became king ten years ago… Arthur had only been king for about two years. James smiled at them, "Yes, he became the best king this kingdom has ever seen at the age of nine years."

The people from Camelot stared at the Criladiens, awestruck. That amount of responsibility on that young of a child. It was humbling to say the least.

At that moment, the bells called out fifteen minutes to midday. Arthur jumped; was it that time already?

Sebastian spoke, "Shall we see the king for our peace talks?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry it took me so long. This is still within my given range, but it's kind of toward the edges. So, sorry it's such a short chapter, but I was just trying to get this out fast. Read and review and enjoy!
> 
> PS: Mordred is a druid and Arthur and all of the people from Camelot know it. The reason that he didn't know that Merlin was Emrys was the same reason that Morgana couldn't tell that Merlin had magic. Eryas is protecting him.

The knights of both kingdoms followed Sebastian as he led them back through the city and into Eryas. He led them to a room where Merlin and Warrior were already waiting and seated. Arthur looked at the table. It was in the shape of a pentagon and was a rich black wood. The top was adorned with a silver pentagon and dragon.

Merlin looked up as they entered and nodded for everyone to find a seat. Arthur sat roughly across from Merlin with Gwen to his left and Morgana to his right. Next to Morgana were Lancelot and Percival and next to Gwen were Leon and Gwaine. Elyan and Mordred were staying in the rooms to make the sides even. Merlin had Warrior on his left and Sebastian on his right. Stone and James sat next to Sebastian and Taylor and Joseph sat next to Warrior. And so, the peace talks began.

Merlin said, "May Eryas be my witness when I say that I come here for talks of peace and not of war. Do you, King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot, say the same?" Arthur was thrown off for a moment. None of them had seen this king so serious before.

Arthur responded, "I do say the same."

Merlin nodded and said, "Then let us begin. If we were to join in an alliance, what is your first demand?"

Arthur lifted his chin and felt the reassuring pressure of his wife's hand beneath the table and said, "Every crop that is grown here that is not grown in Camelot will have no taxes when crossing borders for sales. Every crop that is grown in Camelot and not here will have no taxes when crossing borders for sales."

Arthur could see Merlin chewing the inside of his cheek decisively. Quite frankly, he was confused. This was the easiest negotiation point ever. It is completely beneficial for both parties and requires no extra work or money from either kingdom. Merlin spoke, "Why can we not have that rule apply to all crops? In Criladien, we never stop growing crops all year and due to the magic that runs through our kingdom, we can grow any crop we wish. There are no crops not grown here."

Arthur could see why Merlin had been having an issue. Now it was his turn to chew his lip decisively. He finally answered, "I don't see why not."

Merlin nodded firmly and then stated his own first demand, "If you find a criminal and that criminal is originally from Criladien, that person must be brought to court in Criladien. You cannot judge my people."

Arthur was momentarily shocked by the firm and demanding tone Merlin had just used, but he shook it off and said, "Very well, on the condition that you do the same for criminals of Camelot." Merlin nodded his consent and the point was written down by Sebastian and Leon, who were documenting the peace talks.

It was Arthur's turn again. He decided to throw one of the more controversial points out, "In the case of war, Criladien will provide all of their assets and aid us in war."

Merlin answered, "No."

Arthur's head whipped back as if he'd been slapped. Never had anyone answered that point like that before. Camelot's king spluttered, "Why not?"

Merlin tapped his long fingers against the wood, "We will not fight wars. Ever. It was bad enough when your father waged a war on magic and we had to fight for our very right to live to the next day. I refuse to send out my people to die in a battle that isn't their own. No battle is their own and they should never have to fight."

Gwen spoke gently, "What of yourself and your knights? Would even you not fight for us? Is there nothing you can do?"

Warrior glanced askance at Merlin and they seemed to have a silent conversation before Warrior said, "If an alliance occurs, the knights and the King of Criladien will fight alongside you. There is other, as you say, assets that we will bring to war with us, but as we do not currently have an alliance, we are not willing to tell you of them. Is that acceptable?"

There was a definite challenge in her voice as she watched Arthur decide. He looked to his knights, Morgana, and his queen and they all nodded. Arthur agreed.

Gwaine asked, "What will we give them in return for their help?"

Arthur grimaced; he'd almost forgotten about that. He said, "We are willing to give our help to you whenever you are at war and in need of it."

Merlin's forehead crinkled as he thought, "I thank you for the offer, but I do not wish for you to put your people in danger for a kingdom not their own."

Arthur looked at his people and saw his answer reflected in his eyes, "I will promise you the help of myself, my knights, and the Court Sorceress in the occasion of a war if you will accept." Merlin smiled slightly and nodded.

Merlin said, "I'm sure you can tell, but we have many secrets here. I wish to keep it that way. I believe that one of the points should be that we need not tell the other kingdom anything about ourselves, our way of life, or our kingdom."

Morgana narrowed her eyes at Merlin and asked, "Why? What are you hiding?"

Joseph laughed, "Ah, gorgeous, we aren't hiding anything. It's simply that we aren't very trusting people. There is always that chance that your kingdom won't want to be allied with ours anymore and we don't want you to be at a tactical advantage if such an even should occur."

Arthur noticed Morgana's cheeks redden slightly at Joseph calling her beautiful, but he decided he could wait until later to tease her about it. Arthur asked, "You have the advantage of many generations of magic on your side. What's to say that you can't use magic to discover things about our kingdom that we may not want you to know?"

Taylor face twisted into a snarl and he half got out of his seat, but Warrior held him down, saying, "He is not questioning our honor Taylor. He asked a legitimate question and he will be given a legitimate answer. Never show emotion when deciding the fate of a country."

Merlin nodded his thanks to her and answered Arthur's question, "The only proof I can give you is my word. Unfortunately, you know nothing of how well I keep my word as I've never had to give it to an outsider king before. You may make your decision based on that, but for me, this is a non-negotiable point. I will not endanger my people for the sake of an alliance."

Arthur once again looked at his people and they mainly shrugged at him. Gwen nodded that he should agree to the point, so he said, "Very well, I will agree to that point and I will trust your word."

Arthur said, "Normally, what we do in Camelot during peace talks is we decide on four main points for the day and then we go through the minutiae of those points for the rest of that day's meeting. What do you say about doing that?"

Merlin grimaced, "I hate doing the details, but yes, that is a great idea." He smiled as he finished talking.

After three more hours of discussion over the small things, the knights decided to train together and see how they match up. The battles were set up like this: first were Stone and Percival, second were Leon and Sebastian, third were Taylor and Gwaine, and fourth were Joseph and Elyan. Whoever won the first round would go against James and whoever won the second round would go against Lancelot. Whoever won the third round would go against Warrior, and the fourth would go against Mordred. The next match-ups would continue from there.

Stone and Percival faced each other off. Their battle was decided more on brute strength than on footwork or cleverness. Eventually, Stone managed to push Percival over and he held his sword to Percival's throat. The big knight of Camelot admitted defeat and was helped up by Stone.

Leon and Sebastian fought each other in a drawn out battle decided by footwork. They danced around each other for almost fifteen minutes before Sebastian pinned Leon's hands behind his back and held a sword into his back. Leon capitulated the match.

Next were Taylor and Gwaine. Both were superior swordsmen and they fought will speed and agility. The match was determined when Taylor swung his sword towards Gwaine, but Gwaine spun out of the way and Taylor went too far. Gwaine lifted his foot and pushed Taylor to the ground, only helping the man up when he surrendered

Joseph and Elyan started their match with a long round of circling each other. Both were very careful and very vigilant. Elyan won only by chance when a drop of sweat got into Joseph's eye. Joseph, after giving up, went to go profess his sorrow at not winning the mini tournament for Morgana. Morgana looked mortified the entire time.

Stone and James started circling each other, grinning as if they did this every day. Arthur was certain that Stone was going to win just for his brute strength, but he heard one of the Criladien knights whispering to his friend that he was curious to see who would win this time and saying that they were pretty evenly matched. The battle was quick and ended up with James resorting to elbowing Stone in the eye. Stone glared at him from his position on the ground with a sword to the throat, but James just shrugged and helped the bigger man up.

Lancelot and Sebastian started the match by both swinging their swords against each other at the same time. There was a great clash of metal on metal and they continued fighting, sparks flying like fireworks. They fought, but Sebastian was at a disadvantage having just fought a battle. That's why it surprised the Camelotians when Sebastian won the fight. Almost no one could beat Lancelot, and especially not after another battle.

Then it was Gwaine's turn to go against Warrior. Arthur could tell that he was nervous about fighting a woman, but Warrior didn't really give him much of a chance to decide whether he would attack. She swung her huge sword at him within an instant of the match being called. It was all he could do to keep her from cutting him in half. He hastily backed up, but while he was distracted by a side-sweep of her sword, she stuck her foot out and tripped him. He fell down and she kicked his sword away, holding her own at his neck. He surrendered and the battle hadn't even lasted more than thirty seconds.

Mordred and Elyan fought their battle and ended with Elyan pinning Mordred to the ground with his blade and then promptly taking Mordred's to hold to the boy's throat.

James and Sebastian fought their battle and James won, probably only because of his youth and the lesser amount of battles fought. Warrior and Elyan battled and Elyan had lost his sword within the first five seconds. Warrior won. James and Warrior faced each other and Warrior beat him in a shorter period of time than when she fought Gwaine. It was amazing.

Arthur and Merlin declared her the victor and she gave a tiny smile to Merlin, nodding her head in deference to both of them as she passed.

It was almost two in the morning when the whole group came back from the bar. Merlin, Mordred, Gwen, and Sebastian all begged out and stayed at the castle. Warrior had drunk only water, much to Taylor and Gwaine's annoyance, but it wasn't so annoying when they were both leaning on her as she brought them home.

Arthur crawled into bed alongside his wife, snuggling into her side and hearing her whisper, "Ah, you decided to come home tonight." She turned to face him and he kissed her nose. They fell asleep with their noses touching and their arms wrapped around each other.

In the morning when Arthur woke, after almost a half an hour of frantic searching and questioning, he figured out that Gweneviere had been taken.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I am so, so sorry for taking so long to update. I got distracted by ideas for other fics. Then there was MAJOR testing and homework and studying at school. Then there was Mother's Day and I just had NO time to post new chapters (or actually write them). Anyways, enjoy!

Arthur stalked down the corridors of the castle, listening to the sounds of his armored and weapon-bearing knights following close behind him. Screw King Merlin and his stupid no weapons but his own in the throne room rule. Arthur's queen had been taken from right under his and his stupid castle's nose! Blood would be spilt.

That is, if Arthur could find the throne room. He had taken the exact same route as the night before, only to be confronted with more hallways and stairs and pathways. He and the knights had been going in circles for a half an hour now and the king was starting to get mad. This was time he could be using to find Gwen! He had left Morgana to try to track down Gwen using her magic, but he didn't know yet if she had succeeded. He just needed to find Merlin.

After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, Arthur and the knights rounded a corner to find James and Stone staring at them, each with a single eyebrow identically raised. Arthur pulled himself to his full height and lifted his chin, about to demand that they lead him to their king when Stone lifted a hand to stop him.

James looked over at his fellow knight and then looked back at the visitors from Camelot, "Where do you think you're going? I'm pretty sure we told you enough horror stories about people with bad intents towards our King getting horribly lost in the castle. Did you hear none of them? Did you think you were above Eryas' wrath? Did you think that we would let you hurt our king?" By the end of his questions, James' eyes had turned to two frozen emeralds. A quick glance at Stone confirmed that his eyes looked the same.

In a moment, Arthur's anger deflated and he sagged slightly, but not enough for these strangers to tell. Somehow though, they could still tell. Even though Arthur wore the face he wore for his people, these foreign knights could see straight past it and they could see what Arthur felt.

Joseph rounded a corner somewhere behind the Criladien knights and said softly, a rough accent bleeding through in his voice, "Ya know, ya can see 'im if ya want ter, but ya hafta promise that ya'll stop tinking about killin' 'im afore ya go in der." Arthur muddled through his sentence for a second, trying to get past the thick accent before nodding.

James narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before nodding and turning to walk back down the hallway Joseph had come from. Gwaine cleared his throat into silence and asked, "So, Joseph, quite the appearing and disappearing accent you've got there."

Joseph grunted out a laugh, annunciating slowly to make sure that most of his accent was hidden. By the time he finished speaking, there was only the tiniest hint of an accent, "Yeah, I learned long ago how ta hide my accent pretty quickly. It won't do to let someone know where I'm from based on me accent. The simple solution: get rid of it. The knights here taught me how to speak proper English and I only pull my accent out in stressful situations." Gwaine nodded thoughtfully at him and they lapsed into silence again.

Another few minutes and they were standing at the door to the throne room. Arthur took a deep breath, centered himself, and then nodded to James to show that he was ready. After a pause, James nodded back at him and pulled open one half of the door, Stone doing the other. Joseph walked ahead of them and started talking quietly to Merlin while James and Stone came in behind them, closing the doors.

Arthur froze once he got to the center of the room. It was a similar scene to the one he was met with when he first came to this kingdom. Joseph joined Taylor to languish against the wall. Sebastian was leaning catlike against a pillar, his eyes closed and his head tipped back. Merlin was in his throne, looking at Warrior who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to him.

For a moment, Arthur saw red. How dare these people just sit here when they obviously knew that Gwen was missing? How dare they think that Gwen wasn't worth going through everything to find?

Arthur took another step forward and Merlin decided to finally grace his presence by looking over at him. Arthur's voice shook with barely controlled rage as he growled, "What are you all doing sitting around here, languishing? You have to know that Gwen is missing! I'm sure your precious castle told you about it, right? Are you so stuck up that you won't deign to search for my wife? And I thought you said we were safe. You all were so smug in your belief that nothing could get in here without you knowing, without some magical thing protecting your stupid gardens! You had something to do with her disappearance, didn't you? You know something!"

Accusations fell from Arthur's lips without him even really realizing that they were. He took one more step closer and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Merlin's eyes had been watching Arthur the entire time. About half way through his speech, the King of Criladien had stood up and was gripping onto his throne with one hand. His mouth was pursed into a thin, white line, but he hadn't said anything. Then he saw the sword that Arthur so boldly wore at his hip.

At first, Merlin's eyes widened and then they tightened in anger. His blue eyes skipped over the rest of Arthur's knights, noting their armor and weapons. That's when his whole face morphed into anger.

Arthur had continued to spew accusations while Merlin's face betrayed his anger. Arthur only stopped talking when Merlin's voice boomed, "Stop!"

Arthur, his knights, and even Merlin's knights stepped back from the pure rage that was in the King's voice. Finally, Arthur could see how tense Merlin was, how angry his countenance had become. That single word that Merlin had said, though, had finally gotten it through Arthur's oblivious head that Merlin was powerful. He was possibly the most powerful person Arthur had ever met, but he hid it well behind his cheerful grins and not-actually-funny-but-so-stupid-they're-funny jokes.

What Arthur also managed to notice was that when Merlin said that word, his eyes flared a deep, molten golden. Arthur had seen magic users' eyes when they used magic before. He just had never seen them flash such a pure color. It was as if someone had taken the most pure, beautiful chunk of gold and melted it down to pour into his eyes. It was mesmerizing.

Mordred stammered behind him, "Y-you have magic."

Merlin's eyes faded back to their normal cerulean blue, which now looked so dull in the face of that golden color. Merlin nodded affirmative, his whole body slumping back into his chair as he rested his forehead on one of his hands.

"I'm sorry," Merlin practically whispered it, but it sounded loudly in the dead silence that had fallen in the throne room. Warrior put her hand on the elbow that rested on the throne. All of his knights came to stand around him.

As if their very presence was enough to strengthen him, Merlin sat up straight and looked Arthur in the eye. He said, "I'm sorry. This hasn't been the greatest day for me either and I snapped. Gwen isn't the only one missing. My entire staff is gone. The cleaning, laundry, and cooking staff have all disappeared. Sebastian was trying to track the staff when you came in and Taylor had been talking over ideas about why the people were missing with Joseph before he went to look for you. Warrior was talking to Eryas about possible ways that the people could have gotten in."

Arthur suddenly felt two feet tall. He said, "Oh. Well, okay then." Merlin waited for him to say more and Arthur suddenly realized that Merlin was younger than he was and yet was somehow so much older. It was in the eyes; the so very ancient looking eyes. Arthur cleared his throat and said, "What… what have you discovered so far?"

Merlin gave him a grin that was one hundredth of his usual and turned to Sebastian. Sebastian rubbed his eyes and said softly, "I can't track them. Something or someone is blocking their trail. I don't know how that's possible, but they're doing it."

Joseph had left the room at some point and came in with Morgana trailing behind him. Arthur turned to her, "Did you find Gwen?"

Her gaze was slightly glazed over and she answered slowly, "No, I didn't. Like he said, her trail has disappeared." Arthur looked at her with concern.

Then Warrior spoke up, "It's obvious how someone can mask a single person's trail, even if they would have to be quite powerful to hide it from the Lady Morgana, but have an idea about the group trail. Have you tried to track a single person?" She aimed the last question at Sebastian, who nodded his head wearily.

She sighed slowly and said tentatively, "Well, it seems as if we have a magical mole. Gorgeous."

James shook his head to the right of her, "That's not possible. Eryas would know if we had a mole."

Warrior scowled at James before talking, "Well, I was talking to Eryas about all of this just a second ago, but someone interrupted me." She turned her scowl onto Arthur, who cringed back a little. That girl scowled a lot and she did it well.

Merlin glanced over at her and ordered, "Get back to talking to her and we'll talk to Taylor and Joseph about what they discovered."

Taylor did the talking, "If there was a mole that would make so much more sense. The first thing we noticed was that there are only girls missing. The only females left in the castle are Warrior and Morgana. We figured that was because they both have magic-,"

He was cut off by Morgana's gasp, "She had magic?"

Taylor, looking mildly annoyed nodded and continued, "You missed earlier that Merlin had magic too. Anyway, they both have powerful magic, so we figured that whoever the mole is, they didn't have magic. The mole would have been strong enough to subdue the Queen and keep a whole group of maids behaving. That leads us to believe that Umona, head of cooking, Valaine, head of cleaning, and Chalice, head of laundry are behind this. Therefore, the motives still remain unclear, but things are starting to slot into place. It makes sense how they escaped: the defensive measures wouldn't realize to attack their own people. I just don't see how Eryas didn't notice."

Warrior blinked her eyes open and Arthur heard Gwaine's breath hitch in a little. He realized that Warrior's eyes were startling, but they weren't that interesting.

Warrior breathed in and said, "I've talked with Eryas. She said that she fell asleep last night." Merlin and his knights' heads whipped up so fast Arthur thought they would all get whiplash. Evidently Eryas didn't sleep often.

Warrior continued, "I know, I know, she can't fall asleep, but she did. I have to assume that this sorcerer or sorceress or group of aforementioned types of magic users is or are strong enough to put Eryas to sleep. For those of you who don't know that much about Eryas, you have to be mega ultra powerful to do that. Morgana has a pretty immense amount of power. Now imagine that power times ten. You would need more than that to put Eryas to sleep."

The room was silent as everyone processed the news. There was no magical way to trace the missing people and the traitors.

Merlin sighed and said, his voice thick with weariness, "The only way to find them is to track them on the ground. They probably didn't leave many traces, but you from Camelot are famed for your hunting skills. Perhaps we can put our differences aside and not blame each other so much for things neither of us did and we will find them. Shall we go on a hunt?"

All of the knights, the two kings, and the Lady stood as one and started towards the door. Together, Criladien and Camelot would find they who dared to defy them and they would defeat them, taking back their people in the process.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hi, so I'm using a different and much smaller keyboard than I am used to, so I am liable to make many mistakes. If you notice any glaring mistakes, please let me know. Thanks! So, just so you know, I don't think this chapter is very good, but whatever. Please read, review, and enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

After the confrontation in the throne room, Merlin had sent Warrior outside to ready the horses. He had James and Joseph lead them to their rooms. Evidently, Eryas was still upset with the Camelotians because the trip took about fifteen minutes where it should have taken less than five. The entire walk was filled with joking conversation between Gwaine and Joseph, with Joseph making suggestive comments about Morgana. James walked silently behind them all, his whole body tight with tension and his eyes narrowed in anger.

Arthur stepped into his room and noticed immediately how small it felt without Gwen there to brighten it. For a moment, everything hit Arthur at once and he put his fist in his mouth to avoid crying out. They were in a foreign land with a strange, mysterious king and Gwen was missing and there was a magical group out to get them. It was just too much.

Then Arthur threw off the desperation and the fear the way his father taught him to and he set his shoulders back and carefully constructed a mask of indifference. He grabbed a saddlebag and filled it with clothes and weapons and the poultices Gaius had given him.

Ten minutes later, all of Arthur's knights and Morgana had filed into his room with their saddlebags full and their weapons ready. Arthur smiled and clapped all his knights on the shoulder as he walked out, giving Morgana a look filled with love as he went.

Together, the knights of Camelot and the knights of Criladien wound through the hallways to the stables.

When they got there, Warrior was waiting with the horses. Arthur saw Lancelot's brow crease and followed his gaze to see Gwaine staring intently at Warrior. Arthur frowned at Lancelot and Lancelot shrugged back at him, his forehead creasing again when he looked at Joseph. Arthur saw Gwaine's look repeated on Joseph's face as the Criladien knight gazed at Morgana.

Arthur scowled at Lancelot and Lancelot smiled at him, shrugging slightly again. They mounted their horses and waited until Merlin came out, a frown tugging at his normally smiling face.

Merlin mounted a midnight black mare, talking softly to her as he gently nudged her into a trot. His knights followed immediately, seeming to have started moving even as Merlin did. It was disconcerting to see how well the king knew his knights. It was also, like many things in this kingdom, humbling. They set off.

After almost an hour of travelling, Gwaine started talking, "So, Warrior, you're a pretty impressive horsewoman. Got any tricks you can teach us on this very long, boring, slow trip?" He glanced pointedly at Arthur as he said this. Arthur had been stopping and starting the group several times, getting off his horse to closer look at something or another. He was taking no chances at getting this wrong.

Warrior turned her head to look behind her at Gwaine, "No."

Gwaine looked affronted and the Criladien knights just laughed. Merlin answered for her, "Warrior has a certain… ability with animals. It's one of her many talents. The reason she's particularly good with this horse is that, well, that's her horse."

It was at that moment that Warrior looked back, her horse's head turning at the same time, revealing its eyes. They were blood red. Before anyone could say a word, her horse had turned again. Arthur blinked, certain he had imagined it.

They started back with their search, slowly working their way through a forced path. The undergrowth bit at their horses' hooves as they walked along.

Eventually, Merlin called a halt for the night, getting off his horse and beginning to set up camp. His knights dismounted and helped him. The citizens of Camelot were slower in their actions. Gwaine commented loudly, "Why don't you just use your magic to set up camp? Wouldn't that be a lot easier?"

Merlin smiled and answered, "Yes, it would be easier, but we don't need to use magic to do it. Magic is not a toy. Although, occasionally, we will use it for things that we really don't have to use it for, we don't want to become lazy." His smile grew broader and his knights smiled with him.

Warrior brushed the horses down and gave them a place to sleep while Sebastian listed off who would do watch when, "Alright, everyone will be pulling their own weight during watches. We will go in groups of two. First: Arthur and Merlin, then Taylor and Elyan then Joseph and Morgana then Leon and myself then Warrior and Gwaine then Stone and Mordred and finally James and Lancelot. Just keep recycling that every hour until we begin our journey again at sunrise."

Everyone nodded their consent and continued on with their business. To the Camelotian's surprise, Merlin cooked the meal for them: warmed bread and a hearty soup filled with herbs and game that one of the Criladien knights had caught at one point.

Evidently Arthur wasn't the only one to have not noticed the hunt, as Morgana asked curiously, "When did you get that meat?"

Warrior answered, "I had a hawk catching meat for us and bringing it to somewhere around here so we could pick it up on our way to setting up."

Arthur spoke slowly, "That is… interesting."

Sebastian raised his eyebrow, "We told you she had a gift with animals."

Arthur nodded and said, "I see." In truth, he did not see. These people were very strange and confused him more than anyone he had ever met.

Small talk ensued and eventually people fell into sleep. After the last person (aside from Merlin and Arthur) dropped into sleep, Merlin grabbed an hour glass and turned it over. He settled down on a log and pillowed his head on his hands. Arthur tentatively sat down next to him, his back straight and his gaze set forward.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Merlin glance up at him and raise an eyebrow. Then he reached up and forcibly yanked Arthur to lie down next to him. Arthur sputtered indignantly and Merlin laughed at him quietly.

"What was that for?" Arthur continued to splutter.

Merlin practically giggled and still managed to keep quiet, "You need to relax. You're so tense all of the time. It's tiring to look at." He grinned at the older king.

Arthur wanted to smile back and to 'relax' as Merlin said, but he just couldn't, "How can I relax when some maniac has my wife? How do I just sit here without doing anything while they could be hurting her?"

Merlin's face turned serious and he answered, "We will find her. Nothing will stop me from reuniting you. I can't… you… I loved someone once, and someone decided to take her from me. I couldn't get to her in time, but I will find Gweneviere. I swear it to you."

Arthur wasn't sure whether to be happy or to be sympathetic. He decided to do what he always did when he was uncomfortable with the situation, he cracked a joke, "You, Merlin! You had a girl! I don't believe you." He laughed to show he wasn't serious.

Although Merlin didn't give his usual smile, he still smiled. Arthur asked, "Will you tell me about her?"

He felt the young king tense next to him and was about to say that he didn't have to, but Merlin spoke first, "Alright, I'll tell you." His eyes grew distant and a lovesick smile graced his face as he continued, "Her name was Freya. She was so beautiful. She had waist length, curly, thick brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes. No matter what she wore, whether it be rags or silks, she looked beautiful. She was a druid, and wore her mark upon the inside of her right arm.

"I saw her the first time in a cage. I was travelling through another kingdom where magic is illegal and she was to be executed for her magic. I freed her from her cage and we fled the city. She continued to tell me that she was cursed and that I should just kill her then because she was evil. I told her that magic wasn't a curse. I just assumed that she meant her magic since everyone tells magic users that by using it, they are evil.

"That night I learned the truth of her curse. The knights and I woke in the night to screaming. Freya was screaming. I ran to her and tried to help, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong. She kept telling me to get away, to run, to kill her, to leave. I… I promised her that I would keep her safe, that I wouldn't let anyone hurt her. Then, her curse was revealed.

"At the stroke of midnight every night, she would transform in a Bastet. A Bastet is a creature filled only with bloodlust. It has the shape of a black, winged jaguar. Even in that form she was beautiful. I guess that was the only thing that drove me to reach out to her head after she had turned. I reached out and the bloodlust in her eyes died down and only love was there. She moved into my touch and I started to run my hand through her glossy fur. We fell asleep together.

"When we woke in the morning, it was Freya in her normal form curled up next to me. She told me that the night before was the first night since she was cursed that she hadn't killed someone. That was what the curse was meant to do: make her kill. Together, we conquered her curse, but others had heard of it and wished to eradicate what they considered to be a monster.

"Freya told me that we would be fine and that I should just forget about them, so I did. A month after we returned to Criladien, we were wed. Two months after that, she was abducted. She was out on a walk in the forest, but she somehow got removed from her guards and walked into a trap. Someone who thought she was a monster had told some mercenaries that the Queen of Criladien was to go into the woods that day. They took her and held her captive.

"That same day, I received a letter telling me what I told you. It was obvious that whomever had taken her didn't know about the curse. When I mounted my horse and flew to the place where they said they were keeping her, I did it not only for Freya, but also for them. Without me there, she would slaughter them.

"I was too late. When I got there, I heard the sounds of screaming and of flesh being torn from bone. I ran forward and saw that someone had given her a stab wound to the arm; it was deep. She was backed into a corner and what was left of them were surrounding her. She saw me and was instantly calm. I broke off some tree branches to distract the mercenaries and Freya flew off. I followed her on horseback and we ended up in the middle of the woods.

"When I reached her, she was back in druid form. In her Bastet state, she would have been able to survive the wound, but she had turned back and it was now fatal. I carried her to a lake and held her while she passed away in my arms. I put her beautiful body into a boat and filled it with wildflowers and colorful grasses and then I set it alight. I had to burn the body of my only love." Merlin finished sadly.

Arthur leaned back and noticed that Merlin had turned away from him so he couldn't see the younger man's face. He let his head fall to his chest and said, "Thank you."

Merlin sniffled and turned to look at Arthur. Arthur was shocked to realize that Merlin's eyes were golden again. He thought offhandedly that they must change color when he was emotional as well as when he used magic. Merlin asked quietly, "Why? For what?"

Arthur smiled at him and clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Thank you for trusting me with that story. I've known you for all of three days now and you trusted me enough to tell me that. Thank you."

Merlin sniffed again and said, "Even though I've known you for three days, I feel as if I've known you for a life time. Something just… clicked when you walked into the throne room. It was as if I realized my destiny in that moment. It's probably just me being silly." He gave a genuine smile and turned his head again.

"Wow." Arthur heard Merlin say, "Looks like our shift is over. Well, I will see you in the morning!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and went to wake up Elyan and Taylor. They grumbled about a bit before they settled onto the same log the monarchs had just occupied. Soon, Merlin and Arthur were asleep. Merlin dreamt of his Freya and Arthur dreamt of Gwen.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Yeah, yeah. It's be, like, almost a month since I updated, but I really have no reason. I recently fell in love with two new TV shows, so I might write some stories about those, but I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's not really action-y. At all. But read, review, and enjoy! I'm sorry that this is super-short, but I just wanted a chapter that helped these two couples along. Again, reviews are greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoyed (by the way, my favorite couple is Gwaine and Warrior. I just love them together. They're so cute!)
> 
> PS: Thank you for everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story!

After Taylor and Elyan finished their watch, they woke Morgana and Joseph up. Elyan had voiced his concern about having a girl and a boy doing watch together, but Taylor said that he was sure that nothing would happen. Joseph had groaned and pulled his blanket farther over his head in order to avoid doing watch, but finally got up when Morgana's eyes flashed golden and he was levitated away from his blanket. He had stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before he started to snicker. Morgana wasn't used to people having such a… calm reaction to her magic, so she dropped him. His snickers turned into a glare and she mouthed the word sorry to him.

He simply rolled his eyes and made his way over to the log that everyone had been stationed at so far. "So, Morgana," Joseph began. She closed her eyes momentarily before turning and giving him a cold smile. He was not fazed, "Can I call you Morgana, or do I have to call you Lady Morgana? I think just Morgana sounds a lot nicer, but each to their own. I was wondering, what's your favorite color?"

Morgana turned to face him outright. She wasn't quite certain she had heard that last question correctly. She asked, "Excuse me, what?" Sir Joseph just grinned at her and repeated the question. She hesitated for a moment before she answered quietly. Joseph's grin grew. That was how they spent the rest of their hour.

This night watch was starting to get really boring. Normally, Gwaine could charm a woman, any woman, but the one woman he really wanted to charm, wouldn't have anything to do with him. She was closed off and silent. It had been half an hour and she had yet to say something aside from a sarcastic 'good morning'. Gwaine tried again, "Do you like Criladien?"

Warrior took a deep breath and finally looked over a Gwaine. He flashed a grin at her and her lips turned up a fraction of a centimeter at the edges. She released her breath and said, "If I didn't like Criladien, would I still be here?"

Gwaine tilted his head and said, "You didn't give me a real answer."

The answering almost smile made Gwaine extremely happy that he chose to say it. Warrior leaned her head back against the log and said, "Yeah, I do like Criladien. It's a good place to stay for a while. I'll move on eventually, but my time here is not yet over."

That got his attention, "You move around a lot?"

She nodded and said, "I heard that you do too, but when you found Camelot, you stopped moving. What were you running from that you thought you had to keep moving like that?"

Gwaine looked up at her sharply. No one had picked up on that. He guessed the only reason she figured it out was because she had the same experience. He said slowly, "I'll tell you if you tell me."

Warrior bit the inside of her lip and, after what seemed like an eternity, said, "Alright, but you first."

Gwaine pillowed his head on his hands and thought for a second, finally settling on saying, "I was running from who I am, I guess. Although none of the others know it, I'm actually from a noble family. The thing is, I've had many bad encounters with nobles and decided that I don't like them. I thought that if I kept running, I wouldn't have had to admit that I didn't like who I was. That was the wrong approach to things. Coming to Camelot and being given the chance to be a knight that gave me the strength to think over who I was and who I became and who I was then. And, in Camelot, surrounded by friends, I liked myself."

Warrior looked at him thoughtfully, "I thought all knights were of noble blood in Camelot."

Gwaine laughed and said, "They were, until Arthur became King and decided that some people are worthy of becoming knights, even if they aren't noble."

She nodded, and then took in another deep breath, "I'm not actually running away from anything in particular. I'm actually running towards some place. I want to find somewhere that I'm completely happy and accepted and am important. I want to find someplace that the people there know who I am and still want me. I mean, I'll admit it: I'm not the nicest person, nor the most normal-looking. So, when I finally find the place that meets all of those requirements, I'll stay there."

She shot a small smile in his direction and Gwaine felt his heart soar. He ducked his head and then said, "And Criladien doesn't have all of those things?"

Warrior bit her lip again and said slowly, "It most of them, which is why I'm planning on staying for so long. There's always the chance that something will change that makes it so Criladien has all of those things, but not yet."

Gwaine didn't want to pry, but he was curious, "Which one is it missing?"

"People who know who I am. The King is close, but not quite there." Warrior stated quietly. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she didn't. Quite frankly, Gwaine didn't care. According to what Joseph had said earlier that day and what Taylor had said at the tavern, Gwaine knew that this was the longest conversation someone other than Merlin and Sebastian had had with Warrior. That was quite the achievement.

Deciding to push his luck even further, Gwaine turned onto his side and lightly brushed his fingers across Warrior's cheekbones. When she turned to look at him in surprise, he captured her lips and kissed her. For a moment she just froze and Gwaine felt his heart clench at the thought of her not feeling this way about him, but then she started kissing him back and Gwaine realized that he had never been happier in his life.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is the second to last chapter (not including the epilogue). I'm not a big fan of this chapter, but whatever. This story was super fun to write and it, so far, is my most popular story. I hope that you read, review, and enjoy! Thank you for everyone who had read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story!

When everyone was awake in the morning, James and Lancelot being the ones to wake them up, everyone's attitudes had changed. Arthur and Merlin seemed much more comfortable around each other and no longer had the lingering fragments of anger. Taylor, Elyan, Leon, Sebastian, Mordred, and Stone all seemed friendlier towards each other and the people from their opposite kingdom. James and Lancelot seemed to have become best friends, pushing each other around and joking. Then there were Morgana and Joseph and Warrior and Gwaine. Although Morgana and Joseph hadn't gotten as far in their relationship as the other two, Joseph had started complimenting Morgana more and more, with Morgana slyly teasing him back. Warrior and Gwaine were stuck together like glue, getting many odd looks.

Once everyone was packed up, they got onto their horses and started riding again, following even the slightest trail. There was a comfortable silence until Merlin asked, "So, Warrior. You and Gwaine, huh?" Gwaine grinned hugely while Warrior blushed and ducked her head. The other Criladiens laughed, but Arthur and his knights just stared dumbfounded. Merlin smiled at Warrior and said, "I approve."

James grinned from his spot beside Lancelot, "Hey, that's what I said earlier! Ha! I beat you all to it!" Warrior expertly turned her horse around to punch James 'lightly' on the shoulder before riding back up next to Gwaine. The Criladiens laughed again.

Gwaine smiled nervously back at his friends, "You guys are awfully quiet. What do you think?" Just then, Gwaine heard Warrior's voice in his head, clear as glass, Are you nervous of what they'll say?

He gave her a startled look, causing him to almost miss Morgana gushing, "I think it's adorable! You better treat her right, though. She is a good person and I expect you to treat her like a lady." Her voice had turned from gushing to threatening in a matter of seconds.

Gwaine decided that the proper response was, "So, Morgana, you and Joseph, huh?" This time it was Joseph who blushed and ducked, whereas Morgana grinned. Most of the group laughed and a couple of the guys warned Joseph that she was a handful.

Arthur wasn't so lenient. He started to give Joseph a more in-depth and angry version of what she gave Gwaine (she was his sister after all), but Merlin said, "Aw, give her a break Arthur. She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Aren't you, Morgana?" Morgana grinned up at Merlin and nodded enthusiastically. Arthur glared at Merlin, but refrained from making anymore comments.

After another three hours of traipsing through the woods, they saw signs of a fire and Morgana whispered, "I can feel a lot of magic around here." They figured that this was the group they were up against.

Arthur was about to run straight into the camp to battle, but Lancelot held him back, whispering, "We should make a plan before we charge in recklessly. We don't even know if Gwen's in there." Everyone waited tensely for Arthur's decision. Eventually, he relaxed and turned back towards them.

Merlin whispered, "First, we need to send out a scout to locate your queen in the camp. Can you do that Warrior?"

Before she could answer, Elyan asked quietly, "Can't you just put some silencing spell around us or something so we can talk normally and not have to worry about making too much noise."

Sebastian looked to Merlin, "If it is cast carefully, we should be able to do that. There are some very powerful magic users in that camp, so they might sense us if we use too much magic at once." Merlin nodded and said that spell that would bring silence around them. No one not in their little circle would be able to hear them.

Merlin repeated his question to Warrior, "Can you send out a scout?"

"What do you mean?" Mordred asked, "Isn't she going to be the scout? How does she send one out?"

Warrior, who everyone was startled to realize was holding Gwaine's hand, responded, "They've told you that I have magic and they've told you that I have a special ability with animals. I'm sure you've noticed my tattoos, that they're made up of images of animals. Each image of an animal is an animal that I can bring to life. I have a mind connection with every single one of those animals. Merlin can use a spell to bring the image that the animal and I see into the air so you can see it as well. Do you understand?" Mordred nodded hesitantly.

Warrior held one arm out, upside down and ran her other hand along it, stopping when her hands overlapped. She brought her hands to her mouth and blew slightly. When she opened her hands, a small, black squirrel was sitting there. As everyone watched, the squirrel's eyes turned red and so did Warrior's. Arthur looked up at her, startled, "The horse you ride; it's another one of your animals on your arms." Warrior gave him a hesitant smile to show that he was correct.

Merlin muttered a spell and suddenly they could see from the squirrel's point of view. It scampered away, causing a dizzying swirl of colors on the projection. Suddenly, it stopped and hopped around the camp, leaping on top of things every once in a while to get a better vantage point. Suddenly, Arthur cried out, "There she is! It's Gweneviere!"

The squirrel froze and made a point to look around the entire camp so they could find out exactly where she was located within it. Then the little creature came back to Warrior, disappearing a second before it touched her skin. Gwaine commented, "You have the strangest pets in the world." Warrior grinned at him.

Merlin said, "Alright, now we need to get a plan together. So, we know that Umona, Valaine, and Chalice are in that camp right now. I saw all of Eryas' servants and Gwen. I'm also pretty sure that I saw King Cenred there as well, but I didn't recognize the other three."

He turned to see if Arthur knew them, but saw the other king's face was set in stone. He noticed the same look on the other's faces. Merlin asked hesitantly, "Who are they?"

Arthur ground out, "The man was Lord Agravaine, a past advisor and uncle. He betrayed the crown in league with Nimueh and Morgause. Nimueh, the one with black hair, was the sorceress that killed my mother and Morgause, the one with blonde hair, is Morgana's half-sister. She is also a sorceress. She tried to turn Morgana evil, but Morgana came to us instead. We defeated them, but they ran before we could finish the deed. Now it seems as if they've come to ruin our lives again."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at them and said, "Okay. We have a lot of very bad people on our hands. So, Sebastian, can you see if any of the servants have turned to their side?"

Sebastian nodded and the people of Camelot watched in fascination as he closed his eyes and a shimmering orange line snaked away from him and into the direction where the squirrel had gone. Merlin talked while he was doing whatever he was doing, "There are many different types of magic. Most magic users are sorcerers, people who can pull power from within themselves and use it to do things that can't normally be done. Then there are druids, who do pretty much the same thing, except they pull power from nature, not themselves. Morgana is a witch, which is the same as a sorcerer, but she pulls her power from time itself, which should also give her visions of the future.

"I am a warlock, meaning that I pull power from magic itself. I literally use pure magic from anywhere nearby. There have been times where I have actually pulled magic from another magic user. I try to not do that. Then there are people who specialize in certain aspects of magic. Normally, they have two aspects. For example: Sebastian. He specializes in the magic of the heart, and the magic of the mind. What he's doing right now, it reading the magic that lies in the heart of the servants, seeing where their loyalties lay. He can read minds as well, if he so wishes. Warrior specializes in the magic of tattoos, hence her animals, and the magic of shadows. She can manipulate them and have them do what she asks. Then there are some who specialize in a single ability, such as Taylor. He is a healer. That is the only thing his magic will do." Merlin finished.

By that time, Sebastian had finished. Before any of the Camelotians could say anything, he said, "All of the servant's loyalties lie with you, their king. That is, of course, excluding Umona, Valaine, and Chalice. Their hearts are black with corruption. And I'm assuming from the way the people of Camelot are staring at me as if I've grown a second head that you told them of my… abilities." Merlin smiled wryly and nodded.

Merlin continued to plan, "Okay, so this is a rescue mission and we will avoid confrontation at all costs. Including Gwen, there are twenty three people who need to be rescued. They are all kept in the same area. The whole camp in covered in spells that keep unwanted visitors out and prisoners in. The moment a human not from their group walks into the camp, they'll know about it. Any ideas?"

Lancelot nodded slowly, saying, "Can Warrior let out more than one animal?" Warrior nodded and he continued, "Alright, you can have a couple of animals to chew through their bonds, and then another animal to serve as a distraction by the leaders."

Stone came up with a good point, "How will the prisoners know why the animal is eating at their ropes?"

Morgana said, "I can give them the ability to speak for a brief period of time. It's not that powerful of a spell, so I don't think it will be detected." Stone nodded and Morgana asked Warrior, "Will they know what to say?" Warrior nodded.

"Okay," Arthur said, getting into the swing of the idea, "But we don't have any horses. That means that we're going to have to walk all the way back. Unless someone can… I don't know, teleport us?"

James smiled and said, "No, they can't teleport us. We're too big of a group, even if everyone with magic joined in. We'll just have to walk."

Sebastian commented, "We have to have a spell ready to remove the traces of enemy magic from the prisoners so they'll be harder to track. They will know that we are going to Eryas, but they won't know what path we took if we remove their magic. Then we need a spell that erases our magic traces from the area and a spell that removes our magical tracks. Then we need a spell that erases our physical tracks."

Mordred spoke up, "I can deal with the physical tracks." The Criladien's looked at him in surprise. He blushed and said, "I'm a druid." They rose their eyebrows, but didn't comment further.

Morgana said, "I can remove the enemy's magical traces, but I don't know how to get rid of ours."

Merlin came into the conversation, "I can do that part. Warrior, do you think you can handle our magical tracks if Morgana, Mordred, and I deal with the rest?" Warrior gave him a look that said, what do you think, but Merlin just smiled and nodded to her.

Leon asked, "What do we do?"

Arthur answered, "We wait here and get the horses ready to leave. The youngest and the oldest can ride the horses and the rest of us can walk alongside them. We'll make sure that we keep it fast paced." His knights nodded. It hurt Arthur that he couldn't do more to help his wife escape, but he trust Morgana and, for some reason, he trusted Merlin too. This task needed to be completed with magic.

Merlin nodded to him and said, "Is everyone ready?" After receiving affirmative responses from everyone, he pointed to Warrior and animals flew from her fingertips, growing larger as they grew nearer to the ground. There was a beaver, the squirrel, a chipmunk, a rat, and a mouse. All of them were pitch black and, for a moment, had glowing red eyes. Morgana gave the squirrel the ability to speak.

When they had all ran off to do their duty, Warrior started to get her last animal out. At first, the others couldn't tell what it was, but then it came fully out and they jumped back in fear. It was a snake. A ten foot long, one foot wide snake. It was also pitch black with red eyes. The creature rubbed it's head against Warrior's cheek and then left. Everyone sighed in relief when it was gone.

While the magical members prepared their spells, Gwaine asked Warrior, "So, since you have all those animals out, can you see what every single one of them can see?" The others all looked up, curious.

Warrior smiled at him and said, "Yes. I can see what I always see from my purple eye, but my silver eye is different. It's fractured into six parts, one for each animal, and I can see everything they see in their part of the eye. The whole thing is very disconcerting at first, but you become used to it." Even the Criladien's didn't know that, and they looked impressed.

Then, all of a sudden, they heard the sound of many people tramping through the trees. In a moment, Warrior's animals scampered over to her, disappearing quickly. The only one they didn't see was her snake. Right after they came through, Gwen and the servants ran into the small clearing. Arthur ran to his wife and they embraced. He turned and gave Merlin a meaningful glance, mouthing the words: thank you.

Merlin smiled, but then he went straight into king mode, "Come on, everyone. I know you were just kidnapped, but we need to get going. Everyone I point to will get onto a horse. The rest of us are going to be doing some fast paced walking. Morgana, get your spell going. You too, Warrior. Mordred, you are going to be on the Warrior's horse, sitting backwards. That's how you're going to erase the physical evidence. Don't worry about falling off, Warrior will make sure her horse behaves. Alright everyone, move." Merlin pointed to the people, chanting a spell, his eyes glowing golden.

Over the sounds of everyone moving, you could still hear Morgana chanting her spell. Mordred was aiming his hands in certain areas, erasing their existence, eyes golden. Warrior was sitting silent, her eyes blood red. As she sat there, her snake came up and wrapped itself around her waist, lying it's head on her shoulder.

Eventually, everyone was ready to go and they moved out, Mordred still flinging his hands in various directions, moving things out of the way. Merlin was still chanting as he walked ahead, erasing the traces of Mordred's magic even as they appeared. Warrior's eyes stayed blood red as she held up the spell.

That was how they were when they returned to Criladien, three days later.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Alright, this is the actual second to last chapter (aside from the epilogue). That's kind of sad, but que sera sera, what will be, will be (ignore my failure to put accents). So, anyway, this is going to be a big battle scene and I hope you like it (I intend to have some Merlin BAMF in this chapter). Read, review, and enjoy!
> 
> PS: I am writing a companion piece to this story which tells about Merlin and Criladien when he first came to the kingdom. It would be about how he came to rule the kingdom and what hardships he faced putting it back together again. It would have Freya's whole tale, and it would have the first couple chapters of this story from his point of view. Oh, and it'd show how he met all of his knights.

It was the morning after they had returned from their quest. Both the Camelot and the Criladien parties were in the throne room, King Arthur pushing them to prepare for an attack. Gwen and the servants had been able to warn them that plans were being made for an upcoming battle, but they didn't hear the actual plans.

Arthur called out to Merlin, "We can win this battle, but us people from Camelot don't know what you have available to aid you in battle. Thusly, we can't win the battle. You have to learn to trust us a little more. Just give us something to start with."

Merlin frowned at Arthur, something he had been doing a lot of recently, "I am perfectly capable of creating my own battle plans, Arthur Pendragon. I am a King, believe it or not. I don't need your input." Both kings glared at each other, neither wishing to back down.

Eventually, Gwen came up to Arthur and put her hand on his shoulder, saying to the foreign king, "We know that, but we just wish to help. At least let us be present for the planning, and let us help you where we can. Station us wherever you need us and we will go there. We just believe that we could offer some insight as to how the enemy thinks. For example, we've fought against Agravaine, Nimueh, and Morgause before."

The young king bit his lip, looking incredibly conflicted. He tapped out an irregular pattern on his throne, before finally nodding his assent. The Camelotians visibly relaxed and Merlin waved a hand in the air, bringing his pentagon table and chairs to the middle of the room. No one sat in the same seat as before, choosing instead to sit beside their new friends, making it a mish mash of Camelot and Criladien. Merlin nodded to Warrior and she closed her eyes, leaning her head back.

Merlin sighed and said, "Alright, so far we have this: we will move all of the citizens into Eryas. She should be able to protect them and I know she's big enough to fit them. If the battle comes into the castle, which I sincerely hope does not happen, they will be armed and able to fight with magic or weapons. The knights and I will make camp outside of the castle walls, right in front of the Courtyard of the Gods and wait for the enemy army to arrive. The only one who will not be there is Sebastian, who will be waiting on the castle parapets, attempting to turn the enemies' hearts against one another, so they are fighting on two fronts. We hope that if he does that, then they will stop aiding the enemy and will help to give us some insight to the enemy's plans." Arthur nodded; everything seemed in order so far. There was a fairly large gap between the city and the castle, meaning that the castle can be attacked without damaging the people's homes.

Lancelot frowned, confusion etched into his face, "When did you plan all of this? We've been with you the entire time."

Joseph laughed from Morgana's side, "We've been planning all morning. Ever heard of telepathy? That's what we were doing because we hadn't wanted you in the battle yet." Lancelot nodded, but didn't say anything else.

Elyan turned to Merlin, "So, what are we going to do in the battle?"

Merlin said, "Gweneviere and Morgana will be helping the Court Physician-," He held up a hand to stop their protests, "You will be in the Courtyard of the Gods with the Court Physician, fighting anyone who comes near, and helping pull wounded knights to your alcove. You will heal them or treat them, and then send them on their way again. The rest of you will stay in front of the Courtyard with us. Are there any issues so far? No? Good. We need to find everyone's strengths and stagger our forces accordingly."

Each fighter listed their strengths and Merlin decided on two rows. The front row would be himself, Gwaine, Warrior, James, Arthur, Mordred, and Percival. The second row would be Stone, Taylor, Elyan, Lancelot, and Leon. Joseph would help Morgana and Gwen.

Leon shook his head and said, "This isn't going to be enough to hold back an army if an army is what they bring. We need more."

Taylor grinned at him, "We have more, my friend. We just don't feel the need to tell you about it. You'll find out when it's time to find out."

Merlin interrupted the people of Camelot before they could protest, saying, "Sebastian, if he works hard enough at it, should have changed Umona, Valaine, and Chalice's hearts before they even step foot into the city. We believe that they will then convince Agravaine, Cenred, Nimueh, and Morgause to rest for the night in the city, seeing it deserted. Hopefully, they will then slip away and come to us. We can plan more then. All we can do is get everyone from the city into some rooms. But first, Warrior, are you there?"

Gwaine gasped when Warrior opened her eyes. They weren't their usual purple and silver. Instead, the whites of her eyes had turned black; her pupils had turned silver, and her irises turned royal blue. When she spoke, her voice was softer and silkier, projecting across the room, "Warrior is taking a little break right now, Merlin."

Camelot's resident drunk looked like he was about to attack Warrior's body to remove whatever was possessing her, but Taylor put a hand on his arm, pulling him down. Merlin, oblivious to the commotion going on, smiled at Warrior's body, "Ah, Eryas. It's been a while since we last spoke."

Morgana made a choking sound, "Eryas can possess people?!"

Eryas turned her startling gaze onto Morgana, "I can only possess Warrior and Merlin, but it would be foolish to possess the person I am trying to have a conversation with and I can talk to Warrior without possessing Merlin. So really, I only ever possess Warrior."

James raised an eyebrow at her, not at all concerned that his friend had turned into a talking castle, "You said possess a lot." Eryas just grinned at him, a shark's grin. Gwaine was still sitting shell-shocked in his chair, mouth hanging open.

"So, Merlin, what defensive measures should I deploy?" Eryas asked.

Merlin shook his head and said, "Right now, none. I need to know for certain that you will allow all visitors to find a room for their families. Put their names on the doors and let them go where they wish as quickly as they can. Also, I want you to move the armor rooms to be right next to the guest rooms. Do as much as you can to help the serving girls cook the meals. Other than that, please prepare the landing pads for use. Can we count on you to not fall asleep again?" At the end, his voice was teasing, but serious at the same time.

Eryas frowned at him, and then laughed, "I will do my best. Now that I have felt their magic, I know what to expect. I will be in tip top form for when you next need me." With a whoosh that blew Gwaine and Sebastian's hair in messy waves, Eryas left her current host and became the castle once more.

Warrior blinked rapidly as if she had a hard time seeing in Eryas' sudden absence. Gwaine put a hand on her shoulder and she smiled at him. Arthur smiled at them and held his wife's hand before turning to Merlin, "What if Sebastian cannot change their hearts?"

Merlin frowned and said, "Everyone has a choice in their life. Their hearts will always be able to change, but the only question will be if he will be able to do it in time. He starts to find their heart threads and unravel the evil that surrounds their hearts tonight. By the time they make it to the city, he should be done." Arthur suddenly realized how tired Merlin sounded and he realized that Merlin was two years younger than him and had been ruling for ten years. From what it sounded like, this wasn't the first time Merlin had faced a war.

Arthur clapped Merlin on the back and stood up, saying, "It will all work out Merlin. You'll see."

Merlin smiled gratefully at the older king and said, "Alright everyone, partner up. One Camelot and one Criladien in each partnership. Some will need two Camelotians and a Criladien. Go house to house. Get a family, lead them to Eryas and show them their rooms. The doors have names on them. Once you're done with a family, go get another one. Start with the farthest out families and move inward. When everyone is in the castle, you can relax, play games, train, whatever. Tomorrow night is when the real planning will begin."

True to his predictions, Umona, Valaine, and Chalice snuck into the throne room of Eryas at around ten at night on their third night back. The three women had tears in their eyes and they threw themselves at the feet of their king, begging for forgiveness for allowing greed to cloud their judgment and their hearts. He forgave them easily, cementing Arthur's belief that Sebastian must be powerful.

Arthur studied the three women. Umona was portly with chestnut hair pulled into a strict bun that pulled at the skin around her brown eyes. She left to go aid her employees in cooking for the entire city. Valaine was tan with sharp blue eyes and silvery blonde hair. Gwen had leaned over to Arthur and whispered that she looked like she could be related to Sebastian. That was proven true when the former mole had thrown her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. The older knight buried his head in her shoulder, telling her that it was alright and that he was there. After the three had given what information they knew, she left to go make sure her girls were cleaning the rooms of the guests nicely. Finally, there was Chalice, a short, curvy girl with silken red curls and emerald green eyes. When she was forgiven and had said her part, she immediately left to start the laundry for the castle.

This was what they had learned: they believed that the Courtyard of the Gods was the least defended entrance and had decided to attack there. The enemy had incredibly strong magic and intended on sending fiery cannons onto the castle to distract from the oncoming horde. There were no magic users in the army, just Nimueh and Morgause. Once their soldiers initiated battle with those of Criladien, the two would leave their spot to join the fight.

Arthur looked at Merlin in dismay, "How are you going to protect the people within the castle walls from the fireballs?"

Merlin grinned at him. Arthur reeled back, shocked. He was not expecting Merlin to be so chipper about his castle falling to pieces with his people inside. Then Merlin said, "Don't worry, I have something fire proof that will get in the way of the fireballs. I imagine that would make the two sorceresses very angry. Hopefully, they'll be so angry that they'll come to battle sooner. My aim is to fight them two on one, pulling magic from others as I need it, and defeat them. That will, most likely cause the rest of the army to flee. The only ones that might not are those who Lord Agravaine can muster together at the fringes of the fight. He'll see that the sorceresses are losing and he'll pick some nearby people and promise them a lot of money and a sure win against the small amount of soldiers. If what you say about him is true, he'll sweet talk them into believing that I will be too weak after the battle to fight them. They'll attack and the rest will flee. That small group should be easily taken down by our two groups working side by side."

For a moment, the Camelotians only gaped at him. That was such… such… an amazing plan. Arthur knew that he would never have been able to plan ahead and figure out the enemy's very mindset. Stone laughed and said, "That is why Merlin is our king." The people of Camelot laughed and Merlin sent them all to sleep, saying that they had a big day tomorrow.

So they all slept lightly, each one knowing that the enemy could attack at any moment.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey, it's been a while. I just went on vacation and made it home today, so I'm just going to get this chapter out right away. This is the last chapter before the epilogue. So, read, review, and enjoy!
> 
> PS: I'm not the best at battle scenes, so I'm sorry if it's not all that you were expecting. I do the best that I can, however not good that is. Oh, and with the whole Emrys thing and the prophecy thing, he still has a destiny and all that jazz, but it's a little changed up. If I write the companion piece mentioned in the AN of last, I'll explain further then.

"Where are they? Shouldn't something have happened by now? What if they're planning something else? What if they know more than we think they know? Do you think they're already in the castle somehow?" Mordred opened his mouth to say more, but looking around at the others stopped him. They were all wearing identical expressions of horror. He grinned and ducked his head, saying sheepishly, "Sorry."

The two rows had been waiting in front of the Courtyard of the Gods for almost the entire day. Merlin had disappeared somewhere to go 'do something important' and he would evidently 'be right out'. Quite frankly, Arthur was getting really annoyed with all of the cryptic phrases and little hints right about now. The battle could start any minute and they still had barely any clue as to what was going on! It was ridiculous.

As if his mind had called him, the younger king walked through the courtyard at just that moment. James called out to him, "What took you so long?"

Merlin rolled his eyes and muttered, "Don't get me started, but on the bright side, they'll be here any minute."

The members of the Camelot party looked at each other before Lancelot asked slowly, "Who are they?" Merlin just smiled in response.

Nothing happened for almost ten minutes. They were starting to doubt Merlin's sanity when Arthur looked up and saw something horrible. There were two gigantic shapes flying towards them. As they drew closer, he recognized them as dragons. Real, live dragons. The king of Camelot reeled back in shock and drew his sword on instinct. In his mind, dragons needed to be killed and should never have really been born. The two of them swooped down and landed on the top of a tower and Arthur suddenly remembered Merlin asking Eryas to 'ready the landing pads'. This must have been why.

Merlin grinned up at the things and called out, "Kilgharrah! Aithusa! Glad you could make it! There are two known enemy sorceresses against us! They plan to shoot fire at the castle to distract my power! I need the two of you to either deflect the fire, or knock it out of the sky before it even gets to you! Can you do that?"

To Arthur's immense surprise and slight horror, the larger of the two monsters answered, "Of course young warlock. Not one will get past us. You know I would do anything I could to aid you. Except give you a ride. I'm not a horse, you know." Merlin smiled and Kilgharrah gave a dragon smile back as if they had shared some joke, which Arthur assumed they had.

Elyan stammered, "I-it… it can t-talk." He looked shocked, repulsed, and fearful all at once.

Warrior sent him a scathing glare and said, "Of course he can talk. He's a living being you know. By the way, Lancelot, they came because Merlin called them. He's the last dragonlord left alive." Lance blinked in surprise. Warrior had anticipated his question before he even got the chance to form the words. Gwaine just smirked at him.

Then, Sebastian called down to them, "The enemy approaches! In about a minute the first fireball will be flung. Be prepared!"

He was right. Before the minute was over, a fireball went sailing over their heads only to crash into the side of a pure white dragon. Joseph yelled out, "Woo! Go Aithusa! Take 'em down girl!" The Criladien knights laughed while those from Camelot chuckled weakly. Arthur was a little surprised at the easygoing nature of these knights while at war.

He didn't have time to ponder it any further before they heard the sound of thousands of feet pounding the earth in tandem. All of his knights pulled out their swords and he did the same. He readjusted his grip on the hilt a few times before he felt truly grounded. The king glanced around at his knights at the people of this foreign country. They were all so brave and so strong and he was proud to have known them all in this life time. He was under no allusions that this was going to be an easy battle. It was very likely that several of them wouldn't make it out alive.

Suddenly, before the army reached them, fireballs started flying out of the sky faster than before. Soon, it seemed as if a wall of flame was flying towards the castle. Kilgharrah and Aithusa were good to their word and not a single ball made it through them.

The enemy had just made it over the hill and was glaring menacingly at the small force gathered there in front of them. Then, someone screamed. It was a high-pitched, horrible sound that ripped through Arthur's ears and left him reeling. Merlin, however, just laughed and said, "Looks like we got them angry!"

Arthur and Leon shared a look before staring at the younger king. He was insane! He was having way too much fun!

That's when Morgause and Nimueh appeared in front of the group. They appeared directly in the way of their army, causing the soldiers to stop in their tracks. They offered no explanation, leaving them to instead glance at each other in confusion. Merlin's back straightened and his gaze grew cold. He smiled mockingly at them and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Did my dragons upset you?"

Morgause snarled at him, "You think you're oh so powerful! You think that you can defeat us! We are high priestesses!" By the end, she was practically shrieking.

Nimueh put a calming hand on the younger woman's shoulder and looked at Merlin with her unnaturally blue eyes, "I see now. You are Emrys."

Mordred made a choking sound from near Arthur, "He's Emrys?!"

The elder high priestess turned her piercing blue gaze on the young druid and nodded seriously. Arthur was beyond curious as to what that meant, but Merlin was already talking, "Does that change anything? Will you surrender now?" Now Arthur was really curious about this whole Emrys thing.

Morgause, however, simply growled back, "We will never surrender! You cannot win this battle!"

Merlin narrowed his eyes at Morgause, but ultimately ignored her. He settled on staring straight at Nimueh instead. He asked her, "Will you then submit to a battle between the two of you and me? If I win, you and your army will turn around and never come back. By that, I mean that you cannot even employ a different army to come in your stead. If you win, you may do with Criladien as you please, however, you will allow those from Camelot to return home unharmed. Will you fight this battle on these terms?"

The two priestesses stared at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes. Eventually, Nimueh raised her chin and smiled at Merlin, "Yes, we accept these terms. Let the battle commence."

With a sweep of his thin, but muscled arms, Merlin pushed the knights back, almost into the courtyard. A storm cloud gathered on the horizon and Arthur swore that he could feel the magic in the air. The three magic users circled each other, every one of them looking for an opening of some sort.

Eventually, Morgause whispered a spell and the earth started to shake beneath Merlin's feet. His eyes widened and he jumped up just before the ground opened. Arthur cried out, afraid that he would plummet to a death deep in the bowels of the earth. Merlin, however, simply called out a spell. A huge cloud of air formed beneath him, misting around his legs and cradling his feet. Morgause growled at him, but before she could react, Nimueh shot a ball of fire at Merlin.

This one he wasn't fast enough to deflect. It hit him square in the chest and Arthur cried out again as he watched Merlin fall down, covered by the fog of his personal cloud. Less than a minute later, the young king stood back up, wincing as he did so. Arthur could see a six inch wide circle of burned skin on his front. The older king winced in sympathy.

Merlin glared at the sorceress. From his other side, Morgause formed another fireball. She threw it at him. He whipped his head around just in time and caught the ball in his hands. His eyes glowed golden and the ball grew until it was larger than him. Then he swung it in a circle before releasing it back at the younger sorceress.

This time Morgause's eyes widened as she threw her hands out and yelled a spell. A nearly invisible shield appeared in front of her, blocking the ball of fire, but even Arthur could see that she was losing ground. The ball continued to inch towards her. Nimueh gasped in concern for her apprentice and threw her own spell into the mix, strengthening Morgause's spell. For a second, Merlin's larger ball of fire started to go back towards him, but Merlin, with beads of sweat rolling down his neck, pushed his arms out, causing the fire to go back towards the blonde haired woman.

Both sides continued to push and push and push until, eventually, the shield shattered. Merlin wasted no time in flinging the fireball into Morgause. It engulfed her and Arthur could hear her scream a single time before she was burned into ashes. Nimueh screamed in grief, causing a wild wind to pick up and carry leaves and bushes around them in a whirlwind. Arthur noticed offhand that the storm had come to be right above them during the time of the battle.

When Nimueh finally looked up, her hair was a crazed mess and her eyes were dark with grief and anger. She snarled at him, but Merlin continued to stand on his cloud above her and stare at her with cold eyes. Arthur could tell that he had not wanted to kill Morgause, but he had given her the choice of surrender. She was at fault here, not him.

Nimueh sent a barrage of fireballs at the young warlock, each of them propelled by the strength of her forceful wind. He caught every one and extinguished them. The king of Criladien shouted to be heard above the storm, "You can still surrender! This is your last chance to live! Surrender now!"

Her response was to send a wave of power crashing at him. He shook his head and snarled back at her. The high priestess opened her palm for another fireball, but Merlin raised his arm to the sky. What happened next shocked Arthur to the core. A thick, bright fork of lightening pulled itself from the sky to wrap around Merlin's arm. It illuminated his face and made his golden eyes glow even more. He moved his arm to point at Nimueh and the bolt, which was even hotter than the surface of the sun, fled fluidly from Merlin's finger tips to wrap around Nimueh. It curled around her until all Arthur could see of her were some flyaway strands of black hair.

After a few minutes of that treatment, the lightening flew back to Merlin and then into the ground, diffusing quickly. All that was left of the two sorceresses were two burn marks on the ground. Merlin leapt gracefully off of the cloud and landed on the ground, stumbling. He turned back to the shell-shocked army, "This is your last chance! Leave now and you will survive! Stay and you will face certain death!" His voice boomed like it had in the throne room that one day.

The army fled. A small portion of it stayed behind like Merlin predicted it would. The only problem was, "That is a lot more people than we planned for. We didn't think that many would stay." Stone was the one who pointed it out.

Merlin frowned and then turned to Warrior. She, however, already had her eyes closed in anticipation. When they opened, they were the colors of someone possessed by Eryas. Eryas said, "Should I employ the Courtyard of the Gods security measure?"Merlin nodded and Eyras left Warrior's body.

Merlin turned to the others and said, "Don't worry; the security measure will come any moment now. Knowing my luck, it'll probably begin when we're already fighting. Are we all ready?" Everyone nodded to him solemnly and then turned to face the oncoming horde.

The battle began. Even with the drastic cut in enemy soldiers, it was still a seven to one fighting ratio. They were not good odds. The people of Camelot and the people of Criladien fought side by side, working with each other's strengths and weaknesses and helping each other with particularly difficult opponents.

In a slight lull in the battle, Arthur looked around him. He swore he had heard the sound of stone shifting, but he didn't see anything. And then he saw it. There was stone shifting! It was in the Courtyard of the Gods. With a start, he realized that every single statue was straightening up and grabbing weapons from within the flower beds, or behind trees. They marched out and engaged the enemy in battle. All of those from Camelot stared, openmouthed, as thirty odd statues came to life and started battling humans side by side with the knights of Criladien.

Percival was the first to shake off his paralysis. He shook his head, shrugged, and then launched back into the battle with renewed spirits. They now outnumbered the enemy three to one. It was an easy victory from there.

Arthur later found out that every single person had gone to the little medical alcove where the girls were set up except for himself and Merlin. He watched as all of the statues positioned themselves back in their gardens after hearty thanks from all of the knights. Merlin also thanked the dragons for their help and sent them on their way. The city folks were sent home and went back to their day to day life. Everything was, for a moment, perfect. Everyone had someone to love, whether that love is romantic or friendly. There were few casualties despite the original size of the army. And most importantly, the battle was over.


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Yay! This is the final chapter! The epilogue! I MADE IT TO OVER 10,000 VIEWS! Woo! So, thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed. Anyway, I will be writing a companion piece to this one (eventually). I'll let you know on my profile page when I finally start to put the thing up. So, for the last time in this story, read, review, and enjoy!
> 
> PS: I used some words kind of paraphrased from a website about Wican/Pagan wedding ceremonies written by Mari Nichols, so give her some credit. I don't own her work. Sorry its soooo short. I really am just ready for this story to be OVER. Please, please, please, please let me know what you thought of everything. Tell me what you liked the best in the story and what I could do better on. Thanks!

"It is believed that man was once one with Nature; that he shared in its truths and reveled in its strength. That is still true of some today. Here we gather to witness the bonding of two souls in something straight from Nature's heart. A bonding of Love. I ask that Nature grant these two gifts. I ask that Air provides communication between them and knowledge of each other. I ask that Fire ignites the flames of Love in their hearts that it may brighten their lives and the lives of those around them, and to show them each other's Love in its light. I ask that Water gives them the endless passion of the sea and the refreshing spring of the rain. I ask that Earth sends strength and fertility to them and provides the foundation for something greater. I ask that Spirit brings them closer than they have ever been before in mind, body, and soul." Sebastian finished his speech and turned the attention to the couple at the altar.

As he had mentioned each of the elements, he had placed items in the ceremonial bowl in front of the bride and groom. For Air: incense, a feather, and a bell. For Fire: a candle and a wand. For Water: blessed water from a spring in the mountains. For Earth: a sprinkle of dirt and salt. For Spirit: anointing oil and a crystal. Earlier, they had set up a circle and cast a spell on it so none with malicious intent could enter. The chairs were set up in a spiral out from the altar. Criladiens and Camelotians were interspersed in the spiral, smiling and clapping at his speech. He continued, "I bid you look into each other's eyes. Gwaine, will you cause her pain and burden her? Will you anger her?"

Gwaine, who was looking into Warrior's eyes like they held the key to the world, spoke clearly, "I may."

Sebastian nodded solemnly and asked, "Is that your intent?"

Gwaine said, "No."

The pale blonde haired knight repeated the questions with Warrior and then asked, "Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it? Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union? Will you take the heat of anger and use it to temper the strength of this union?"

In unison, the couple said, "Yes."

Sebastian clasped their hands together and tied a ribbon around them and then another and a third. He said, "And so the binding is made." The audience echoed his words and then he moved onto the next set of questions, "Warrior, will you share his laughter and his dreams? Will you honor him?"

"Yes." Her voice carried across the clearing.

Sebastian repeated the process with the groom and asked, "Will you both look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other? Will you dream together to create new realities and hopes? Will you seek to never give cause to break that honor?"

Their voices melded together in harmony, "Yes."

Sebastian nodded again and said, "And so the binding is made." The audience once again repeated his words and then he tied the last three ribbons around their hands. He said, "The knots in your relationship are not held together by these ribbons, but by your vows. You may remove them because you each hold in your own hands the power and strength of this relationship." Gwaine and Warrior, still immersed in each other's eyes, took the ribbons off and put them into the vase with the elemental gifts. The knight finished with, "You are now joined in Love." The audience echoed 'joined in Love'.

Gwaine and Warrior exchanged rings and jumped over the broom. They broke the circle that surrounded them and joined their friends at the feast set in their honor. To no one's surprise, after the battle Gwaine told Arthur and his fellow knights that he was going to stay in Criladien with Warrior. They were going to get married and Merlin had already prepared a knighting ceremony for Gwaine.

To around the same level of surprise, Morgana announced the Joseph would come back with them to Camelot and that he would court her. She hinted strongly that it would come to marriage and that the Criladiens were always welcome to her wedding. Arthur extended the same offer to Joseph that Merlin offered to Gwaine.

The person who surprised all of them was Mordred, who the day after the battle asked Arthur if he could stay in Criladien. He had met a girl in the city that second day named Kara and claimed that he had never seen someone so beautiful and kind and overall amazing. He described her as driven and romantic. Evidently they had hit it off without anyone noticing. Merlin had graciously offered to talk Mordred on as another knight. Kara and Mordred had started dating and the thought was that Mordred would propose in a month and have the wedding at least a week after; plenty of time for the people from Camelot to come.

Overall, many unions were formed between the two kingdoms. Some were romantic, some friendly, some political, and some were brotherly. As Arthur was riding away, he looked back and saw Merlin's eyes crinkle in his customary grin. This visit seemed almost like… almost like Destiny.


End file.
